The Other Side
by The Original Safety Pin
Summary: Two mortal enemies get sucked in through the well, the outcast punk and the popular cheerleader. Forced together by fate, will they survive their stay in the Sengoku Jidai with Inu and the gang? InuKag, MirSan, KogOC
1. Please Read

**Hello everyone, my name is Safety Pin. I'm a writer, no doubt like you, and am looking for some input, some tips, you know the drill.**

**Btw, the first chapter has no Inuyasha, Kagome, Sango, Miroku, Shippo or otherwise in it, for which I apologize. But there needed to be some setup. So if you feel so inclined, I've made a summary of what happens in the first chapter for you. That way you can skip directly to the second chapter to meet the gang if you so desire.**

BRIEF SUMMARY OF CHAPTER ONE FOR THOSE WHO DON'T WANT TO READ ANYTHING WITHOUT INUYASHA:

Courtney and Tack go to highschool together. Courtney is a cheerleader, very popular, blonde, stately. Tack is a loner punk, red hair, aggressive, likes sports, kind of moody. They hate each other, which only intensifies after Courtney commandeers the photography lab, Tack's pride and joy. After a squabble by the mysterious well behind the school, Tack gets riled and punches Courtney into the well accidentally.

Tack insinuates that people actually hate Courtney, not love her. Courtney then says, "So is it true that your mom started fucking the principal after your dad commited suicide? Cause your pretty screwed up. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree." This is what sets Tack off.

Courtney grabs Tack on her way down and the two go careening into the darkness, only to awake in the Sengoku Jidai. Courtney is pretty bruised from Tack's mighty punch and stays huddled on the floor of the well while Tack goes up to explore, determined to find shelter for herself before nightfall.


	2. Punched Through Worlds

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognizable characters, which belong respectively to Rumiko Takahashi.**

**Rated for language and some rude references.**

**Okay, guys, here's my first story. I wrote this after having a run in with the school cheerleading captain and wondering, "If she didn't call me frump girl like in that movie I saw once, I wouldn't mind being her friend." See, I go to an all girl's school, so the really really rich, blondes are popular. And they're cheerleaders for our brother school. And I'm the drama queen punk emo kid, I have red hair, I'm funny looking, they make fun of me and think I'm a prude. I fight back and call them names, its bad. So I wonder if I became friends with one how it would turn out. This is the only way I could see it going, if we got sucked into the feudal era and ran around with the Inu-tachi for like a year. Lol. Read and Enjoy.**

**:safety pin:**

_So let me knock on this wood once more_

_I hope karma doesn't exist_

_Because if it does..._

_I'll be feeling it real soon on my hands and knees._

_Previous adventures_

_And these types of stories seem to feel the same_

_Cold and Heartless_

_No emotions more than just a game_

_In the past I've hurt so much_

_It seems only fair for me_

_For me to get crushed_

_But I'm crossing my fingers..._

_I won't lose what I have _

_**-"Polar Opposite" by Glasseater**_

The Punk and the Cheerleader. Born to be rivals, born to butt heads, born to cross paths and tell the tale. One, a celebrated outcast, the other, a happy debutante. So different, almost worlds apart, but still one can never stop wondering; how do things look from the other side? How would it be to wake up, smirking at your reflection with a practiced confidence, jamming an air guitar to ACDC? Or perhaps a different view: waking up, eyes wide and smile beaming, running about in rose colored underwear, wondering if today will be half as bright as tomorrow?

Perhaps not. Perhaps, and this is purely hypothetical, the rebels and the preps wish to remain miles apart. The distance brings them comfort in their own insecurities. They wish only to watch the goings on from demensions away, laughing at every wrong move, knowing they could have done better. But fate rarely gives you that choice; too simple. Not to mention boring for destiny's restless humor...

Chapter 1

Tack Harely was an outcast and she knew it. Frowning at the term, she preferred words such as "special" or "wild." Nevertheless, society recognized her for what she was: a rebel. Mayhap the look gave her away, but her attitude called as much attention, if not more. Dear Tack, standing tall at 5"9, intimidated the most burly of boys with her masculine muscles. Driven fiercely away by the social hierarchy, she channeled her anger into sports, dedicating every inch of her will to victory. Red curls flying askew, green eyes alight with some sort of twisted rage, she took on the world in soccer jerseys or sometimes hightops; it made no difference. Just so long as everyone could tell: she didn't want to talk.

Courtney de la Shanz, captain of the cheerleading squad and sophmore class president, walked a different path. With her blue eyes sparkling in the light of all things holy, blonde curtain of shimmering hair rippling like waterfalls, she dominated every aspect of Dameon Highschool with a startling ease. Only a sophmore, but so talented for her age. A cheerleading genius, a sweet heart by nature, the apple in every boy's eye; Courtney had a score of servants lined up to do her bidding. Sadly, her seemingly kind disposition remained buried beneath her greatest hindrance; Courtney de la Shanz just couldn't say no to popularity.

On the first day of November, fates were bound to collide. The air gave away no mytseries, sunlight shined through glittering palls of autumn cold, and normality retained control over everyone's dying awareness. Dameon highschool, set a bit off Goddart Street with its doors firmly shut, welcomed no one but received many. This day, however normal it appeared, was anything but.

Breathless and slightly pink in the cold, Tack hurried through the gates and looked blearily around; something was wrong. Taking another furtive glance at her skull patterned watch, the girl released a groan and shut her eyes tightly. Twenty minutes fast, right to the very second. No doubt her wicked brother Max was after her again. Tack reshouldered her backpack, covered in song lyrics on every flap, and ran a hand subconciously through her unruly locks; today was beginning poorly. Her highttops scraped against the concrete pathway as she wearily scaled the front most steps. Students milled about the yard, bored with their own lives and searching for amusement. Much to Tack's chagrin, they found it walking primly through the front gates.

Those who received waves in return sighed blissfully. Courtney de la Shanz knew they were alive. A pink fur coat clinging cutely to her thin shoulders, Courtney shot dazzling smiles in every direction and continued her trek down the pathway with books properly held in hand. Several girls followed her, some friends and others wannabes, but no one could doubt the girl's popularity. Courtney, though she seemingly owned the school, played slave to her own success. Now that she'd had a taste, she couldn't let it go.

Tack growled in obvious disgust and pushed her way briskly through the doors, stomping down the hall in her ire. That damned Courtney, queen of everything, little miss perfect. People like that pissed Tack off, always having to look so good and straight backed. Were they just out to make the whole world look bad?

Footsteps sounding like claps in the empty hall, Tack sullenly trudged towards the Photography lab with a hitch in her step. Today would be boring, she decided, just as the ones before it and surely as the ones to come would be. Little did she know how much was truly in store.

The photography lab, sagging under the weight of neglect, dripped with malcontent. Graffiti littered the walls, unintelligible stains spread across the floor, old and unusable lab equipment lay forgotten in messy piles near the door. Besides the one working dark room, the photolab was useless in all respects of the word and Tack was well aware. She refused, however, to give up on the old place and still treated it with respect. It deserved as much, she believed, after sticking around that hell of a school for thirty years. Tack had barely survived two.

As she swung the creaking door inwards, Tack wrinkled her nose at the rotten smell; the walls reeked of alcohol. It seemed another late night football celebration had occurred over the weekend and the girl scowled; dirty curs, using the photolab for such things. New graffiti had crawled onto the walls recently. In poor red handwriting, it read, "Life is fucked." Snorting belligerently, Tack couldn't help thinking how right that person was. Life certainly seemed cruel at the moment.

After developing her prints and hanging them to dry, Tack turned towards the angrily creaking door. Someone other than her was actually coming into the photolab? Perhaps even to, god forbid, develop photos? But no such luck. Blonde hair rippling about her like waterfalls, Courtney de la Shanz made a dazzling entrance into the laboratory, miniskirt showing more thigh than was necessary. Rose petal lips curled into a thoughtful frown, the girl blinked her blue eyes prettily before turning to Tack.

The girls shared a meaningful stare, Courtney daring to acknowledge the other girl's presence while Tack filled her eyes with hate. Whatever this popular slag was doing here, it wasn't photography related. Courtney took a few steps inside, her heels clicking shortly on the tile, before she surveyed the dirtied walls once more. Her gaze was pointed, filled with intention as she relayed her eyes back to Tack.

"What do you think? Rose pink or Baby blue?" her voice was light, airy, ditzy. Crafted around each word was a narcisstic belittlement against Tack and both girls could hear it.

Narrowing her eyes dangerously, Tack asked, "What?"

Cocking her head to the side once more, Courtney pretended to look sincerely wondering as she asked, "Oh, I just wondered what color the walls should be. Pink or blue? Hmm. I think pink."

Taking a few dangerous steps forward, Tack said sharply, "I don't think you have a fucking say in what color these walls should be."

Seeming taken aback by the girl's response, Courtney said in wide eyed innocence, "Well, this room just seemed perfect." When Tack shot her a questioning glance, the blonde girl continued. "Oh, I asked the principal if the cheerleaders could have a practice room and he said I could pick one. This one is the right shape and obviously, doesn't matter to anyone..." her gaze lingered on Tack as she said, "important."

When Tack didn't answer, too shocked by these circumstances, Courtney finished off, "So, I think that makes this room mine."

Tack could almost not believe her ears. What? Give up the photography lab? Eyes alight with fire, Tack realized that this girl was attempting to take away the one part of this school that actually made sense. With rude students, rude teachers, rude administrators and otherwise undesirable courses, this highschool was the bane of Tack's existence. Tack could stand up against her parents, but not the government, and apparently she had to go to "academic facilities." If she did indeed have to go, why couldn't there be at least one sane part of it all?

Swiping her arm indignantly across herself, Tack shouted, "Look, you can't just come in here like you own the place and say its yours. Last time I checked, this is a frickin' school. That means that these rooms are for academic purposes only, meaning that we do photography here. See the sign that says, 'photography lab?' Just because you're rich and half the school follows you like idiots, you can't barge in here and take the only thing I've got. Get the hell out!"

This outburst did little to deter Courtney de la Shanz and she merely crossed her arms imperiously over her well crafted chest. Her eyes glittered with murderous glee as she said, "I don't think you get it, girl. This room is mine now and there's nothing you can do about it. So why don't you just step."

At this, Tack let loose a scream of outrage. Marching straight towards the girl, Tack had to restrain her own fists as she shot back angrily, "I don't believe for one fucking minute that the principal would let you pick any goddamn room you liked for a rich bitch hangout. Until you show me cold hard proof, I ain't givin' up this room!"

A pregnant pause followed this in which blazing green eyes met placid blue ones. Tack could almost feel the hope draining from her fingertips as she saw the confidence in Courtney's sparkling features. Perhaps she had truly lost the lab after all. With this, Courtney de la Shanz turned smoothly on her heels and glided out the door, waving back over her shoulder. "I'll find you, frump girl. I'll show you my proof." Leaving a scent of daisies, she was gone.

Tack watched her leave in a flurry of pink fur and let her brave facade melt off her body. If she lost the photography lab, she might as well sign up for the suicide line. She couldn't take much more of this existence.

The treetops bowed against the november wind, chilling the students as they walked from class to class. Behind the gym, a field of wildflowers gave way to a veritable forest, the one part of this campus left untouched by evil teenage hands. The scene was picturesque, colors melting together into on warming hue, trees creaking almost nostalgically as they remember times of crackling fires and replenished ozone. Amongst the wildflowers, stones rose from the ground in a startling display of strength, untouched by time. A well, its wooden roof decaying upon its posts, sat sternly in the foliage, glaring out at this hateful world grown up around it. Through the ages, it managed to remain. And so it would until the end of time.

Tack sat, her back against the well, puzzling over a rough sketch. It depicted Tack, hands shoved stubbornly in her pockets, walking towards a cliff edge with regret shining in her eyes. Funny how the girl could capture her own soul in the picture, but Tack was no fool. She knew and understood every one of her feelings, never questioning her own apathy. If she thought about suicide with any depth, it never truly meant anything. Tack sometimes felt, however, that things could only get worse. Life hadn't totally stabbed her to death yet.

Alone with her own thoughts, Tack barely heard the approaching footsteps of someone unaccustomed to fields and mother nature. Courtney didn't seem pleased by this required treck, stepping gingerly along the somewhat beaten path as she made her way towards the redheaded girl. Clutched in the cheerleaders well manicured hand was a piece of paper, a few lines scribbled and a signature at the bottom. Indeed, the captain had done as she promised and retrieved proof. Now that worthless punk girl couldn't deny her what was rightfully hers.

Startled by the sound of someone's outraged cry, Tack blinked and took in the humorous sight of Courtney de la Shanz, one high heeled spike sunk into the soft ground. She wrestled with it for a moment before it exited the ground with a dull "pop," almost mocking her. The blonde continued stoically onwards, coming to halt mere inches before Tack's hightops.

Trying to hold back a grin at Courtney's ruffled appearance, Tack asked sweetly, "Can I help you?"

Without words, Courtney thrust the paper forwards, looking haughtily away from her antagonist. Tack took the offered gift silently, reading over the paper with life draining from her eyes. After a few words explaining the decision to remodel the photography lab into a cheerleading practice room, Principal Hagan had signed his name in blue ink on the dotted line, almost a weary signature against a tiring day.

As Courtney saw Tack's face falling, her day almost took an upward turn. After trecking across that wretched field, something worthwhile finally awaited her. Only the sound of wind in the trees broke the silence as Tack handed the paper wordlessly back to Courtney, trying to think of something witty to say. Courtney, however, stole her momentous glory by saying, "Guess I win, frump girl."

She turned to go but, in one maddening moment, Tack rose quickly to her feet and spun around the blonde, backing her slowly towards the well with a vicious look in her eyes. "Oh, it's not over yet," she spat bitterly. "I still have something to say to you."

Looking expectantly, Courtney seemed not to notice her back coming dangerously close to the well's edge. Tack poked the girl venemously in the chest as she hissed, "You think you're so wonderful, so beautiful, that everyone worships you. Did you ever think that maybe people follow you out of fear? That means that one day they'll tell their kids to stay away from people like you and not make the same mistake their parents did, following you like a dog. They'll tell their kids to be like me, to stand up against you, to resist your pathetic rules. I hate people like you. Always have, always will. And I know that you'll grow up to be white trash, living in some god damned trailer in podunk Texas, nine kids and no father. And then I'll laugh my ass off."

These words were cruel, perhaps harsher than even Tack intended, and for once Courtney's unshakable cool was flustered. To even hear the insinuation that people didn't like her frightened Courtney to no end. Maybe, after all, her power was worthless. When subjects were unwilling to follow, power suddenly lost some of its thrill. Not to be outdone, she narrowed her blue eyes in dislike and said calmly, "So is it true what they say? That you're mom started fucking the principal after your dad killed himself? Cause you're pretty screwed up. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

This pushed Tack completely over the edge. Hearing someone say such things about her family, about her father's death, about her mother's grieving, truly did in whatever chance there was for restraint. Courtney became a firsthand witness to Tack's fierce anger, a victim of her own perpetuated stereo-type. Green eyes blazing, teeth gritted, muscled tensed and fists clenched, Tack let loose a wild yell of rage and took one swing at Courtney in her ire, unable to see or remember the well behind the cheerleading captain.

The next moment occured in slow motion, Tack's fist breaking sound barriers as it barreled out of no where, catching the stately Courtney de la Shanz on the cheek, sending her surprised face flying backwards over the well's edge. Surprised at her own daring, Tack seemed taken aback for a moment before pink nails shot out from their fall, grasping Tack's muscular arm and breaking the skin with their piercing tips. Both girls screamed as their bodies crashed into one another, falling backwards into the rank and bottomless well. Knowing the well had been dry for years, the girl's closed their eyes against the rushing wind, preparing to meet their doom on the ground below. But the hit never came.

A bright flash of light enveloped both girls and, for the smallest moment, they were suspended in a cluster of sparkling blues and greens, eyes wide in terror and arms flailing slowly in the murky atmosphere. Crystals floated back and forth in the spiritual pergatory, twinkling as darkness appeared once more. All in a single frightening moment, Courtney and Tack landed softly on the powdered ground, their nerves considerably shaken.

Tack was the first to come out of her stupor. Rising shakily to her feet, she felt the walls of what appeared to be the well. She could have sworn for a moment she'd been floating, but everything seemed so hazy now. Glancing down at her feet where the blonde cheerleader lay, Tack raised an eyebrow and remembered her punch. Though it was wild and no doubt foolish, it felt so wonderful.

No, thought Tack fervently, focus. Glancing to the side, the redhead noticed some protruding bricks, leading up the well's edge towards the light. Tack began her ascent without a second thought towards her enemy, laying dazed on the well bottom, clutching the rough stone in her palms and lifting with her strong legs. The climb was easy and Tack appeared at the edge in no time, lifting herself swiftly. What she saw was almost wonderful and terrible at the same time.

Empty fields, blazing forests, clear blue skies, not a building or artificial light for mile. Everything was natural, untouched, a product of unspeakable beauty. This was teh antithesis of Dameon highschool but, rather than suffer separation anxiety, Tack felt delight welling up in her throat. This would be one spactacular adventure.

A pitiful moan broke her reverie and Tack chanced a look down the well; huddled in a tight ball, Courtney seemed far less regal than before. Her normally flawless cheek was bruised and bleeding; for some strange reason, it pleased Tack's thirst for revenge. Though, after the cheerleader's cruel words, almost nothing could quell her desire for Courtney's unhappiness. Deciding to leave the blonde to her own devices, Tack shoved her hands moodily in her pockets and stalked off towards the setting sun; she needed to find shelter before nightfall.

**What will happen to Tack and Courtney? When will they meet Inuyasha? Will Courtney ever stop being a bitch? I love those goofy questions that the narrators asked after dramatic unfinished finales in fifties shows. I thought I'd add some of my own. **

**Sorry for the lack of Inu and the gang, but I have an obsession with proper set up in my stories. This one is no different. If flames could be converted into tactful suggestions, much appreciated. But if you just had like a major break up or something, your excused, flame away. **

**:safety pin:**


	3. Meeting the Gang

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha and the others, they all belong to Rumiko Takahashi, bless her.**

**Thanks so much to my happy reviewers, Emerald Jewels and Taka Sheoku. I really appreciate you guys, being my first reviewers and all, and are so glad you liked the story.**

**Here we continue after Tack and Courtney made the jump between worlds and we're very excited. We need to stop using "we" since I'm really only taking about me. Heh. It's been a long, gatorade drinking day. In any case, here we meet Inuyasha and the gang! Be excited!**

**:safety pin:**

Inside the well, Courtney de la Shanz looked fearfully about, shuddering from the pain in her face. How dare that low life Harley girl touch her! And now, the most popular girl Dameon highschool lay, helpless, on a well bottom, future uncertain and body aching from her strange day. Glancing warily at the makeshift brick climbing wall, the blonde girl rose unsteadily to her feet and cursed; one of her expensive white heels was broken, the heel completely unglued. This provoked a whimper from the wretched girl and she reached down to remove the shoe, taking off the other as well to even herself out. Tentatively, she stepped forward and took a leg up on the bricks.

On her first try, Courtney slipped and fell backwards, knocking her breath out in an audible whoosh. After mourning the stains on her pink jacket, the girl attempted once more, this time making a slightly smoother ascent. After what seemed like an eternity, she arrived at the gaping well mouth, clambering over the edge only to land in a heap on the grass. Furrowing her brow, Courtney glanced around and felt her composure fleeing for the second time that day. Certainly, this wasn't the yard from Dameon high.

Her breath coming in short gasps, Courtney's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as she let out banshee like wail, her high pitched scream echoing around the forest as birds scattered from the trees. Though the place seemed completely deserted, a keen pair of ears perked up at the sound of her shriek.

Kagome Higurashi let her bike roll to a standstill as she turned to look over her shoulder, deep brown eyes twinkling with concern. Behind her, a young man with curious silver hair let his abnormal white ears swivel to and fro, as though searching for a sound. His amber eyes alight with adrenaline, he turned back to Kagome and said shortly, "In the forest."

A few feet ahead of Kagome, three more travelers cocked their heads in curiosity. Dark hair waving slightly in the wind, Sango the demon slayer glanced fitfully around their position, as though awaiting attackers; if her hanyou companion sensed something amiss, she needed to be on her guard. Beside her, a young holy man did the same, brown eyes keen and quick. His right hand tensed within its cloth covering as he wondered; would his cursed hand come in handy tonight? Upon the monk's shoulder, a small fox demon attempted a brave grunt as he joined his companions in searching the area for attackers. He must be a man and stand up to his fears of battle.

Before anymore words could be spoken, the hanyou began a sprint towards the forest, his godly speed causing the tree limbs to creak and bow as he passed. Rolling her eyes in irritation, Kagome yelled, "Inuyasha!" though this did little to halt his pursuit of the mysterious forest guest. Turning to address her companions, the girl shared a wordless glance with Sango and the demon slayer nodded, looking down at her feet.

A small white cat, it's eyes round with wonder, heard its name called in human speak. "Kirara!" At the sound of its master's command, the cat disappeared within a vortex of flame, emerging ten times its normal size, fangs elongated for battle. Letting out a fierce growl, it signaled its readiness as the humans mounted its back, preparing for take off.

With that, the three humans and kitsune were lifted into the air, flying on the back of their magical cat friend. High above the forest, they watched for any signs of Inuyasha through the canopy of trees, though they saw nothing. The kitsune wrinkled his nose and furrowed his brow. "I smell something funny. It's human, but not like any human I've ever smelled. It's...that way," he said, designating the direction with a point of his paw.

"Are you sure, Shippo?" asked the monk, his voice calm.

"Yeah," said the kitsune with a confident nod. At this, the cat took a downward swoop towards the appointed area and flew cleanly through an opening in the trees, landing with nary a sound on the forest floor. Sango removed a powerful weapon from her back, fingering the leather grip restlessly as she readied her boomerang bone for action.

"Miroku, do you sense anyone?" she asked.

Half hooding his eyes in concentration, the monk searched the surrounding area for a presence and let his eyes widen in mild surprise. He'd felt this aura before, though it seemed strangely different, as though resurrected in a new shell. "Yes, though they are not threatening."

At the monks words, Sango replaced her weapon and joined Kagome where she stood. "I wonder why Inuyasha just took off like that," mused Kagome worriedly.

Smiling, Sango said, "Don't worry Kagome, I'm sure it's nothing."

Before the girls could continue their conversation, Miroku shouted, "Hello there!"

Walking calmly down the forest path, not a hitch in their step, was a redheaded girl, her green eyes fierce with confidence. In one glance, Kagome realized her clothes were not from this world and a sense of familiarity grabbed her; this girl was from her era. Narrowing her eyes slightly, the girl came to stop a few feet from the monk and released a cold smile.

"Hey," she said placidly.

"What's a beautiul girl like yourself doing in the forest?" asked Miroku, a hint of his perversion coming through in his words.

"Attempting to stay away from leches like you," shot back the girl smartly. Sango raised an eyebrow; this girl was no fool to be sure.

"Why, whatever do you mean? I myself was just in search of a friend of mine. Perhaps you've seen him, about my height, white hair, dog ears," continued Miroku with a bright smile, undeterred by the girl's remark.

At the description, Tack raised an eyebrow suspiciously and crossed her arms over her chest. "Really. White hair and dog ears, huh? No, can't say I've seen him."

Kagome stepped forward before Miroku could dig himself a deeper hole and smiled kindly, holding out her hand to shake. "I'm Kagome Higurashi. You're probably wondering where you are."

Slightly at ease with the familiarity of the girl's school uniform, Tack managed a small smile as she shook the girl's soft hand firmly. "I'm Tack Harley. And I was kind of wondering."

"Well, you ar..." began Kagome before another piercing scream in the distance cut her off.

Exchanging glances with her comrades, Kagome motioned for Tack to come along as they ran in the direction of the sound, only a few hundred metres down the forest path. Tack recognized the girly shriek and rolled her eyes regretfully; she'd only made it a half mile away before Courtney pulled her away from happiness again. In the clearing from whence Tack had come, Inuyasha stood a few feet away from a breathless blonde girl, who was backed fearfully up against the well shivering in terror.

Kagome took in the scene and called immedeately, "Inuyasha!"

The hanyou turned away from the girl briefly to acknowledge Kagome and she supressed a laugh; the look of complete and utter confusion on his face was indeed humorous. Obviously, he couldn't deal with this screaming girl quite the way he could with Kagome.

Tack observed Inuyasha with slightly surprised eyes, thinking quietly, "_Well, that's not something you see everyday." _Having grown up in a police family however, she was only slightly thrown off and regained her composure almost instantly. He was the way he was and nothing she did would change that. Besides, he could go on being a white haired, dog eared oddity and it wouldn't bother her.

Courtney, on the otherhand, was terrified beyond all comprehensible reason. A white haired man? With dog ears? And fangs? In a big, red suit? This was all too weird! Gripping the well tightly, she half thought of jumping back in, though a voice broke her thoughts. A dark haired girl in a green school uniform called to the mutant freak before her and he turned, obviously an acquaintance of hers. How could she be in league with this abomination of nature?

Rushing towards the blonde, Kagome knelt down beside her and smiled soothingly. "It's okay, I'm a friend. My name is Kagome."

Nodding blearily, Courtney hesitated slightly before taking the girl's outstretched hand, rising unsteadily to her feet. "I-I'm Courtney."

Inuyasha, now seeming unruffled by the girl's startled reaction, turned towards the others as the two girls talked near the well. He took in the sight of Tack and barked gruffly, "Who are you?"

"Tack Harley," came her short reply.

Finding the girl significantly less irritating than the blonde, Inuyasha strolled towards the group and sat cross legged on the ground, waiting for Kagome to finish her discussion with the newcomer. Miroku turned his attention to Tack, asking politely, "Miss Tack, do you know that girl?"

Crossing her arms haughtily over her chest, Tack avoided his gaze as she muttered vehemently, "Not by choice."

Sango looked over to where Kagome was assisting the girl and then back to Tack. Certainly, the two girls seemed completely unalike, though she knew neither of them. Tack's tone spoke the truth louder than words; these newcomers were not on friendly terms. Finally, Kagome persuaded the frightened girl to approach the others and she took a tentative seat, far from Inuyasha and his obvious irritation.

Tack pointedly ignored Courtney as she asked Kagome, "You were telling me where I was."

Nodding slowly, Kagome took a seat next to Courtney and the others soon followed, preparing for what would surely be a long discussion. "Well, it's a long story. I came through the well about a year ago..."

By the time Kagome finished her tale, night had settled over the forest and Miroku busied himself making a fire from twigs and brush. Tack sat quietly, her back against a tree trunk, as she drank in the information just provided. Truly this was a strange set of circumstances, though she wasn't frightened in any way. Actually, she was rather excited by the whole episode. Nothing like this ever happened in her hometown of Dallas, Texas. All she heard of there was murder and money, flying in constant shadows above her head. She was neither a killer nor a debutante and, therefore, lived a hard life in that city. This was a welcome change.

Courtney, on the otherhand, was once again opposite Tack's view. This whole thing was foreign, weird, scary; if only she could curl up in her queen sized bed, glancing contentedly at the pink canopy before falling asleep in her father's mansion. What she wouldn't give for a mocha frappucino and a ride in her pink volkswagen beetle, or a phone call from her friends sharing the latest gossip. And of all the people to make a leap between worlds with, she was stuck with the impossible Tack Harley. Courtney's life, as far as she was concerned, couldn't possibly get any worse.

As both girls were eerily silent, Kagome tried to make conversation. "So, do you two go to the same school?"

At this, both girls snapped out of their thoughts and snorted, obviously unhappy with the reminder. Kagome furrowed her brow, trying to get a bit more information. "In what city?"

Courtney said nothing, gazing blearily into the firelight, leaving Tack to pick up the loose ends. "Dallas, Texas," replied Tack.

Eyes alight with excitement, Kagome exclaimed, "America! That's so cool! I'm from Tokyo."

Tack seemed to come alive as Kagome said this and she asked, "Japan? Wow. I've never been there."

Here, Courtney interjected suddenly, "I have. Daddy goes there on business all the time."

The girl's willingness to talk pleased Kagome and she continued the conversation in earnest. "Oh? Your dad must be pretty important."

"Yeah," said Courtney smiling, "He's the American president of Sony electronics. I get all the free stuff I want."

These words were almost an alert to Kagome and she realized, in one moment of clarity, that this girl was popular and spoiled. She could tell by her clothes, her condescending attitude, her aloof stares in Inuyasha's direction. But this wouldn't deter Kagome from being polite and making friends; maybe the girl wasn't as bad as all that. She could be just shaken by this whole experience. Maybe she would snap out of it in a few days. Turning to Tack, Kagome asked brightly, "So Tack, what does your dad do?"

Looking cooly back at Kagome, Tack responded levelly, "My dad was a cop. He was killed in the line of duty seven months ago."

Though the redhead looked over in Courtney's direction, the cheerleader averted her eyes, scratching at the suddenly fascinating forest floor. Those cruel things she'd said about Tack's parents suddenly seemed so terrible and wrong, even Courtney was ashamed. Kagome's happiness faded immedeately and she breathed, "Oh, I'm so sorry Tack. That must be terrible for you."

Managing a wan smile, Tack replied, "I'm moving on; its what he would've wanted."

Though she appeared alright on the outside, Sango could tell the redhead was anything but alright. Just like the demon slayer had done after her father died, Tack thought of her father constantly, what she might've done to prevent his death, what she would've given for a different outcome. Mourning the death of a loved one wasn't just a quick up and go; it was a long process, filled with hurdles to jump and mountains to climb. Tack Harley was a sad girl beneath the facades and Sango could see it clearly.

"Tack, I'm sorry for your loss," said Miroku kindly.

Tack nodded stoically. "Thank you, Miroku."

After a rather uncomfortable silence, Inuyasha said gruffly, "You two don't smell completely human."

This comment seemed so random, so out of place, that Kagome lowered her eyebrows dangerously. "Inuyasha, how rude!"

He didn't seem put off by the girl's reaction and only watched the newcomers for signs of response. Tack raised an eyebrow almost lazily, not totally surprised, while Courtney gasped, offended. Blue eyes gleaming with indignance, she said primly, "How dare you!"

"Feh," was the hanyou's only response and Tack watched him carefully. Looking down at her own hands and feeling the dullness of her canine teeth, she couldn't understand being incompletely human. All her life she'd been normal, or as normal as anatomy would allow, but he couldn't possibly be wrong. With his acute sense of smell, the dog demon obviously told no lies. The thought was, however, more unsettling than she let on.

"I've always been human. What else do I smell like?" asked Tack, a bit of an edge to her voice.

"You smell like a wolf," said Inuyasha coldly, obviously unhappy with the idea.

Time seemed suspended as Tack pondered this idea, a blank look of surprise on her feet, before she replied fiercely, "You're a fucking loony if you think I'm part wolf."

Growling at her sharp response, Inuyasha had little time to think of a reply when the blonde girl interjected her own opinion pompously. "I'm born from two of the richest, most well bred families in America. You just try and tell me otherwise!"

Eyeing Courtney viciously, Inuyasha said quietly, "And you smell like something I've smelled before. A priestess."

Kagome blinked, now interested in the hanyou's suspicions. "A priestess? Who?"

Sango furrowed her brow in confusion, firelight dancing on her face as she asked in disbelief, "You can't mean Kikyo?"

Shaking his head, Inuyasha muttered, "Not Kikyo. You smell like...forget it..." He trailed off, leaving unsaid words hanging on the air, and Courtney harumphed, crossing her delicate arms and looking pointedly away from the others. Tack rolled her eyes at this childish behavior and returned to the matters at hand. She still had business to tend to.

"Kagome?" the girl turned at her name, listening to Tack carefully. "I don't have money or a place to stay. If you have any ideas, I'm open."

Looking over at Miroku, Kagome seemed to ask him silently for assistance and the monk intervened on cue. "Perhaps we could take you and Courtney to the village in the morning. Our friend Kaede would no doubt prove helplful."

Nodding her thanks, Tack returned to staring deeply into the fire, pondering over Inuyasha's comment. Wolf? How in the world could she smell like wolf? Never had she even seen a wolf, except in the zoo. Dallas had coyotes, certainly, but not wolves. This entire thing seemed somewhat strange. Didn't Kagome say, during her tale, that you had to have a shard of the famed Shikon jewel to even cross between the eras? And why Courtney? Why the two of them together? Could fate possibly intend to drive them to their graves with bickering and hatred?

Speaking of Courtney, the affluent girl seemed not at all pleased with the notion of going to the village. "I never said I was going to any village! I'm going to get back in that stupid well and go home!" she informed everyone shrilly.

Eyeing the girl irritatedly, Tack spoke directly to her for the first time that night. "What makes you think you could even get back through? If we needed a shikon shard to get through in the first place, how could we get back? If we didn't have a shikon shard the first time, there's obviously a reason why we're here. And I bet you everything I own that we have to fulfill that purpose before we can leave."

Instead of heeding the girl's words, Courtney shot back, "It's not like betting everything you own would be a big win for me."

Growling fiercely, Tack responded hotly, "Look princess, we're in a different world now. It ain't your girly little fantasies, like your cheerleading team, and your rich daddy, and your boy toys. This is real shit. I think I'm just a little bit smarter than you, so why don't you listen to me for a change!"

Despite the fierceness of Tack's words, Courtney continued unfettered. "Smarter than me? I'm not the goth who has no friends, so I've obviously doing something right. You're just jealous because I have more friends and I'm prettier!"

At this point, Kagome and the others were watching the fiery exchange with interest, picking up details here and there as the girls argued. Favor was quickly shifting towards Tack as Courtney showed her true colors and Inuyasha's suspicions were confirmed. He did indeed like the redhead much more than the blone.

To Courtney's argument, Tack rolled her eyes and yelled back, "First of all, I'm not gothic. Second of all, I have no friends because you and your cheerleading sluts spread all those rumors about my mom screwing the principal and my dad commiting suicide. Thirdly, I have more important things in my life than money and appearances. And if all you value is your social status and your face, you're a lot sadder than I thought."

Though the redheads words cut deeper than she'd let show, Courtney pretended to ignore most of the insult as she pointed angrily to her bruised cheek. "Well, you're the one who hit me. If you hadn't punched me, we wouldn't be here in the first place!"

Narrowing her eyes, completely unfazed by the blonde's logic, Tack said lowly, "You deserved every inch of that pretty little bruise, princess. Now I'm going to sleep."

With this, Tack settled lower against the tree trunk and allowed her eyes to close, basking in the warmth of the fire. Courtney could tell that the conversation was finished and she had lost; she hated that Harley girl more than she could say. Kagome exchanged glances with Sango as they mused over the fight and Inuyasha smirked a little; his favorite had one and that's all he cared about. In any case, even if he liked the redhead more than the blonde, that wasn't saying much. He almost preferred that mangy wolf Kouga to the blonde. _In fact_, he thought oddly, _that red headed wench reminds me of the mangy wolf. I'd like to see the day they meet, feh_.

After a taxing day indeed, the party fell quickly asleep, always keeping one eye open for danger.

**There you have it, the second installment to this story investment. I continue on in earnest, planning out great things for this plot. Btw, I saw the cheerleader modeled after Courtney today in the mall by accident. She was laughing with some girls and saw me. She blew a kiss, I'm not sure what that means, and continued on talking like nothing ever happened, didn't say hello. The people I were with glared at her and I told them to leave it alone; we'd gotten enough cold shoulders from walking around in black and chains all day. Enough was enough, aye?**

**Reviews, my friends. It only takes a second, I know you hate being hounded. If your reading, I beg for your input. Please?**

**:safety pin:**


	4. Kaede Tells All or Why Tack is so Weird

**Oh boy! Reviews! I leap with ecstatic happiness and do a sort of lame jig for the amusement of all present. Thanks for all you wonderful reviewers, who I would like to personally thank right now.**

**Taka Sheoku: glad you could get all sorted out, fanficing is a complicated business (or so we liked to think, it makes us all feel important, haha) **

**Emerald Jewels: rock on! Texas is the shiznit! I live in good old Dallas, nice and crime ridden and sort of ugly, but how I love her. Lol, thanks for the dedication, I can't wait for you to write something so I can write a review looking something like, "emerald jewels is my homie in the hood! we bff!"**

**Kairivoosh: No problem man, I love giving reviews especially on wonderful stories like yours. Thanks for the encouragement as I stumble along in my quest for true understanding of fanfiction (its a long journey, lemme tell ya.)**

The next morning, Tack awoke to the sound of someone putting out the campfire. Inuyasha glanced over at her, kicking some of the ash around to further smother the dying flames. "You're awake," he said gruffly.

The girl glance around, slightly disoriented, before she saw Courtney curled in a pitiful ball to her right. Suddenly, the previous day's events flooded back to her and she sighed, trying to collect herself. Kagome smiled a cheerful smile, kneeling down besides the redhead. "We're taking you to the village in a few minutes," she informed Tack.

Tack just nodded, rising to her feet by use of the tree trunk. The camp site was virtually spotless now and Courtney was struggling to a standing position, clearly still shaken by the previous day's events. Looking around one last time, she whimpered; it was indeed reality.

With a grunt from Inuyasha, the group was off, working there way around flora and fauna to arrive at the large mountain's bottom. The descent seemed to be taking forever, especially for Courtney, who was running about shoeless since her heels' demise the previous day. As Tack looked back at the blonde, she almost felt a tinge of sympathy; then she remembered those hateful words about her mother, her father, and quickly looked away. Sympathy abated for the time being.

The group reached the foot of the mountain rather fast, perhaps a little too fast for Courtney's taste, and were soon walking along the rice field paths. Tack looked over the edge in awe, wondering about the cultural fascinations she might encounter, while Courtney dismally looked over her broken shoe once more; yes, definitely out of repair. A quaint town appeared ahead and Tack glanced up, smirking at the overall cute quality of the picture. Women bustled about, tending to chores, men worked dedicatedly in the rice fields, children played happily in the roadways. Truly, a utopia away from home.

The first hut on the left attracted Tack's attention as she saw Inuyasha glance over at it, hurriedly walking inside as though bothered by this errand. "Old hag, are you there?" he called rudely.

"Inuyasha? What is it ye be wanting?" came an older, calmer voice.

An old woman, quite short relative to the two new girls, looked up at her guests through shrewd eyes, one covered by an eyepatch, sizing them up. She nodded gruffly, as though answering her own private question, and beckoned them all inside. The hut was small but no doubt met the woman's needs; Tack was charmed while Courtney seemed disgusted. How could anyone live in such overall filth? The answer escaped her.

"I am Kaede," announced the old woman kindly, smiling at the girls.

"My name is Tack Harley," said Tack, looking over at Courtney after a rather lengthy pause. The blonde seemed unwilling to give her own name and so, Tack took matters into her own hands. "This is Vagina."

Kagome and Sango gasped, while Miroku stifled laughter and Inuyasha seemed to fend off a smile. Kaede seemed completely unaffected, only raising one weathered eyebrow, and Courtney gritted her teeth angrily, correcting, "My name is Courtney."

After observing the girls for a moment, Kaede took a sip of tea from her clay mug and addressed the newcomers. "Where are ye from?"

"America," answered Tack boredly, quickly losing interest in this turn of events. If at all possible, she wished to never speak of home again. This world suited her just fine.

Pondering briefly, Kaede said, "If ye mean from Kagome's world, something is certainly amiss. One portal and one portal only exists; how did ye come about this world?"

Her troubled tone didn't escape Tack, who furrowed her brow. "We fell down a well. Is that...bad?"

"Perhaps. But it isn't your fault, child, don't ye worry. The portal must have some reason for inviting you here. Mayhap you have a purpose to fulfill," recounted the old woman wisely.

Upon hearing the bit about a purpose, Tack looked down triumphantly at Courtney, who merely scowled at the whole arrangement. So the frump girl had been right after all. What a sticky predicament. Looking back up at her informant, Tack addressed the old woman with a certain air of respect and politeness; she at least reverred her elders, if no one else.

"Ma'am, how do we find out what that purpose is?"

A silence hung in the air until Kaede said tiredly, "You must seek it."

Courtney suddenly looked up, surprising the room as she accused bitterly, "You know something you're not telling us. I want to go home!"

Kaede saw the vehemence and broken look in Courtney's normally glittering blue eyes, pausing. This girl had a story to tell, more than others would surmise, and was deeply scarred by something in her life. What affected her so much? Who could have made this happy girl so bitter? Waving away the thoughts for the time being, Kaede said softly, "You speak the truth. I know things I cannot tell ye. It is not my place. As for ye wantin' to go home, you could attempt through the well. I know no other means. I'm sorry, child."

Upon hearing these words spoken out loud, Courtney felt hot tears pricking her eyes. Rising quickly from her seat on the ground, the blonde hurried from the hut. Everyone watched her go, most with an air of apathy, though Kagome seemed concerned. Eyes fearful for her new found acquaintance, she asked, "Should we go after her?"

Tack remained silent, looking away when Kagome tried to meet her eyes, and Kaede watched the girl's reaction. Obviously, she and the blonde were not on pleasant terms. After digesting this information, the old woman said, "Let her go. Ye need to give her time."

Again, Tack said nothing, only looking out the one crudely carved window. She was mulling over the previous night's dicussion, the one concerning her semi-humaness. Inuyasha's comment about her being part wolf was not only startling, but somewhat terrifying. All these years, Tack had loved wolves and the mysterious thunder, but now she feared the animal lurking inside of her. What if she couldn't control it? It would not doubt be the end of her.

Turning emotionlessly to Inuyasha and his friends, Tack asked politely for a moment alone with the elder. They agreed, hurriedly exiting the hut, leaving Kaede and Tack alone. Taking a deep breath, the redhead poured out her troubles, recounting the conversation with Inuyasha. Kaede didn't seem alarmed, only curious, as she said, "It seems that wolf blood runs in your veins. Inuyasha never smells falsely. Do ye recall any strange incidents in your childhood, anything to suggest wolf heritage at all?"

Tack shook her head, not remembering a single relative moment. "Well," continued the woman, "perhaps being near the sacred jewel has awaked your demon blood." Tack shook her head slowly.

She remembered hearing of the sacred jewel from Kagome the previous night. After being shattered by Kagome's sacred arrow, it scattered to the four corners of the earth, coming into the hands of demons and humans alike. Everyone wanted more power and needed the jewel to obtain it; these circumstances alone sent the country into chaos. The jewel, from what Kagome said, had immense power. But could it really bring out an entire different part of Tack's life?

A troubled frown on her face, Tack said stiffly, "I don't know how to harness the power I guess I have."

"Ye will learn in time, my child, be patient," said Kaede in a soothing voice.

"Don't tell me to be patient! I have an animal living inside me, waiting to be awakened, and all you can say is be patient!" shouted Tack, rising hastily to her feet. Her eyes blazed intensely and, for a moment, Kaede witnessed the legendary wrath of the wolves.

Never backing down, Kaede said calmly, "Tack, sit down. Power is a wild thing, sometimes not to be harnessed. Control your abilities, but do not tamper with your power. It will consume you if provoked."

Breath coming in angry gasps, Tack sunk slowly back to a kneeling position. Kaede nodded her head resolutely, saying, "To return home, ye must fulfill your purpose. I will tell ye this much: you and your friend," Tack winced at the word, "must come upon your own gifts to complete this task. Courtney must come to understand her spiritual power and you must awaken the wolf."

Blinking, Tack paled a bit. "Awaken it? You want me to purposefully bring it out?"

Nodding gravely, Kaede answered in a cryptic tone. "It is the only way."

For a moment, everything seemed downright funny to Tack; this was so near unbelievable it was ridiculous. And this old woman? Self-important and a terrible liar, that's what she was. Soon enough, someone would jump out, amid bells and whistles, screaming jovially, "We got you!" But not one did and not a bell sounded. Tack clung to a small hope that this was all one big misunderstanding, but it slipped slowly away. She was stuck in pergatory and she hated it.

Snapping herself back into reality, Tack made a quick decision. There was no use griping about this if she couldn't change it so, in light of this fact, she would deal with it properly. Smacking her fist resolutely against her palm, Tack said, "Kaede, I will set out to awaken the wolf if I have to. In fact, I'll got right now."

Tack turned to leave, but Kaede quickly pulled her back by the arm. A stern look in her eyes, the woman commanded, "Sit."

Stunned into submission, Tack did as she was told. Kaede instructed her thoroughly. "Firstly, ye must change your clothes. Men in this world are not accustomed to your dress and will not hesitate to approach you." Tack grimaced, yet the woman continued. "Secondly, ye must have a weapon. In these times, demons and evil humans run rampant. Thirdly, ye must take Courtney with you."

Upon hearing the third condition, Tack let her mouth gape widely as she stared at the woman. Just the thought of journeying through a foreign land with Courtney made the redehead's skin crawl and she shuddered. It was quite the unpleasant thought, all the complaining, the taunting, the childish gossip games. Tack couldn't take a good few months with that kind of behavior. Even she, the constantly picked on tough girl, had not the composure to weather Courtney de la Shanz for more than three hours. Tack began to protest.

"Kaede, with all due respect, Courtney and I..."

"Are not on good terms, aye," Kaede cut in sharply. "But ye came together and will travel together. The fates have planned it so."

Realizing that this was the end of the discussion, Tack hung her arms limply, nodding a stiff nod, before saying calmly, "Clothes and weapons then?"

As though just remembering, Kaede nodded and moved to a corner of the room where a small compartment lay. Inside were folded articles, each more foreign than the next, and the old woman eventually came upon what Tack recognized as a practice gi. The top was white and the bottom green, a perfect combination for the redhead, and Kaede placed the bundle of clothes in Tack's arms.

"These will serve ye well. And this..." the woman reached back into the compartment, withdrawing a perfectly crafted leather sheath. She fingered a protruding hilt carefully, showing the hilt's shape in the window light; it was carved in the figure of a silver dragon, the ripples of its tale perfectly crafted to fit a human grip. The blade itself was simple yet sharp, a deadly weapon to be sure. "This too will serve ye well."

Tack nodded her thanks, bowing slightly as Kaede left to give her privacy. Tack changed into the clothes after trying a few odd ways of wearing them, finally discovering the proper method of Japanese dress. The sword hilt was attatched to a leather strap, which fit perfectly over her shoulder and across her chest, pleasing Tack to no end. From her first day on earth, she'd been fascinated by swords and now she had one to call her own.

After slipping on Kaede's gift of plain, black traveling shoes, Tack stepped outside, leaving her old clothes inside the hut. She gave Kaede a twirl, smiling a bit. "How does it look?"

Kaede smiled smally in return. "Like it was made for ye. I wish you luck on your journey."

Again Tack bowed, answering, "Thank you Kaede. I'll be back as soon as I've finished to tell you all about it and collect my things."

Before the girl could leave, Kaede called, "Send Courtney to me, for I must speak with her. Tell Inuyasha to wait for Courtney and she will meet you at the rice fields."

At this, Tack furrowed her brow, wondering what the woman meant by this. "Inuyasha? We're traveling with Inuyasha?"

To Kaede, this question was almost assinine. "Of course child. I wouldn't send ye two out alone." And with that the old woman disappeared inside her hut. Tack blew a stray red curl from her face and went in search of Courtney, wondering what kind of underhanded methods of persuasion she would be forced to use. No doubt the blonde would explode in a mighty fit and refuse to go, resulting in Tack being forced to persuade her, ahem, "other" ways. This would, however, be frowned upon. _Probably not nearly as frowned upon as us traveling with Inuyasha, _she though. _He is going to be livid._

Tack didn't know how right she was.

Courtney found her foosteps carrying her back up the treacherous mountain, all the way to the well and its mysterious darkness. She peered inside, frightened of what may be living down there, and took a deep breath. If she wanted to get home to her friends, boyfriend, and popularity, she had to make a few sacrifices. With this thought in mind, she threw caution to the winds and hurtled over the well's edge, bracing herself for the blinding light as before. With a squeak, she realized that no guiding light was coming and landed painfully on the hard ground, grunting in pain.

This only furthered her dispair and the girl glanced at the walls, tears forming in her eyes. She pounded the ground bitterly with her fist as she sobbed, a broken heap on the well's floor, wishing she could just thinkg of home and find herself in the garden, talking with her father. He wasn't home much, what with his business meetings and frequent trips, but he always came home on the fifteenth of the month to visit. This day happened to be the fifteenth and, of course, she was missing him.

Tack gritted her teeth to control her anger as she trooped back up the mountain, tripping over a root for the umpteenth time. If that damned cheerleading girl could just keep a reign on her emotions, life would be thirty times less difficult. An distant sound up ahead caught her attention and she caught sight of the well; finally. Another loud sob erupted from the well, echoing around its walls, and Tack groaned. She was crying again.

The redhead leaned over the well's edge, a smidgen curious if Courtney had lost hope by now, and saw the girl's distant form, once elegant but now retched. Yes, she seemed to have lost a great deal of hope. Tack called down to the blonde, trying not to sound completely mocking as she asked, "It didn't work, did it?"

Sobbing a bit louder, Courtney answered, "No," in a blubbery voice.

Rolling her eyes, Tack called, "Look, the old woman wants you to come see her."

At this, Courtney managed to stand by use of the wall's edge and, through mascara stained cheeks, shouted, "I don't want to go see that bitch, tell her to fuck off! I just want to go home!"

Tack let out a heavy sigh. "I don't want to argue with you, princess, just go do what Kaede says. You ain't leavin' anytime soon, as you should have figured out. See? You can't get back through. Might as well do something to pass the time while we're here."

The blonde paused a bit in her crying; the frump girl was right. She obviously wasn't getting back through anytime soon, so she might as well just do as the redhead and the old woman said. Perhaps it would serve as a suitable distraction while she lingered in this miserable world. How anyone survived in these olden times was beyond her. No wonder life expectancies were so low.

With a heavy heart and aching body, Courtney made a slightly more graceful ascent up the well's side and clambered akwardly over, landing in another heap on the grassy forest floor. Tack reluctantly offered her a hand, which Courtney stoutly refused. Whether or not their conversations were somewhat civil now, they weren't by any means friends. Casting an eye over Tack's new clothes, Courtney raised a contemptuous eyebrow.

"What are you wearing?"

Lowering her eyebrows dangerously, Tack began walking towards the village with the blonde at her side. "It's traditional clothing and much better to travel in."

"It looks like a thrift store exploded," Courtney scoffed.

Scowling bitterly, Tack snapped in reply, "And you look like Abercrombie fucked a trash can, then had a child. I win. Go to the village."

With that, the redhead stormed off in the opposite direction, no doubt to find Inuyasha and the others. Courtney was left with a sour expression on her face, making what seemed like her hundreth treck down the stupid mountain that day. What had she done to deserve this torture?

Tack could think of a few things.

On the road to the next village, Inuyasha and the others sat in wait. Kaede had specifically instructed the hanyou to remain in the village until told otherwise and the white haired demon was already fuming. He was anxious to get on the road again and track down the demon Naraku, retrieve jewel shards, and fulfill his dream of becoming a full fledged demon. This dream wouldn't just come true sitting on the side of some road.

Glancing up, he saw Tack approaching, though garbed in an outfit much like Kikyo's, though the bottom was green in place of red. She appeared to be hopping mad, judging by her clenched fists and quickened strides. As she approached, she nodded a curt hello to the group and remained silent. After a moment, Inuyasha asked, "What did the old woman have to say?"

Asking the gods to give her patience, Tack answered calmly, "I have to awaken my inner wolf, the princess has to find her spiritual power, and we have to go on a journey to do this, therefore traveling with you."

A long silence followed, broken by Inuyasha's outraged, "WHAT THE HELL?"

Lowering her eyebrows dangerously, Kagome shouted, "Sit boy!"

Tack watched in a sort of dull satisfaction as the hanyou plowed violently into the ground, his beaded necklace glowing in mirth. Observing his imprint in the earth, the redhead said casually, "Nice trick Kags."

Kagome merely blinked at the nickname, smiling a bit before saying, "Thanks."

As soon as Inuyasha dusted himself off irately and the others gathered around, Tack proceeded to tell of her encounter with Kaede. Several bits and pieces were not included in her story, for obvious reasons, but she elaborated greatly on the truncated version. By the end of her telling, Inuyasha seemed slightly more at ease and looked belligerently up at the sky, silent as the others reflected.

"Wolf, did you say?" asked Miroku, obviously intrigued. "Do you feel like a demon?"

Blinking, Tack mused for a moment before replying, "I don't really know what it feels like to be a demon, so I would have to say no."

Another pregnant pause captured the group as Inuyasha glanced up at the sun warily. "It's almost midday, we gotta get movin," he announced. "If we have to take you two, so be it." Kagome almost smiled, seeing Inuyasha come to terms with everything so quickly, and felt an odd sort of pride welling up within her. Strange, how she could feel pride over something so trivial.

Silmultaneously, the group stood and began dusting themselves off, all the while wondering what kind of outcome this journey would bring. Sango glanced down the road, saying, "There's Courtney," in what she hopped was a cheerful voice. Truth be told, the demon slayer wasn't Courtney's biggest fan at the moment and thanked the gods there were so many people in their group. If the tajiya were forced to interract solely with that biggoted girl, she would indeed crack.

Tack turned and saw Courtney walking slowly down the path, a dazed expression on her face. The expensive pink clothing was gone, replaced by a light blue traveling gi, and a mahogany bow was strapped to her shoulder. If anything, Courtney seemed to be lost in whatever Kaede'd said to her and failed to notice the group at all. Only when she came within reach of them did she blink, glancing around and then saying calmly, "I'm ready to go."

Inuyasha grunted consent, motioning the group onwards with his head, and the travelers were off. Still mulling over Courtney's subdued behavior, Tack only wondered if it would last through the journey. If it didn't, the redhead would most likely lose her temper, thusly resulting in a hot row with the cheerleader, therefore leading into great tension within the group. Not that there wasn't already; Tack could sense everyone's dislike for the blonde and relished in it. Finally the punk beat the cheerleader. And she knew it.

Near sunset, the group came upon a small village and, after a bit of "exterminating" on Sango's part, earned themselves a place to stay in the local inn. The girls gathered together after dinner and wandered towards the back of the inn on the owner's recommendation. He'd told them of hotsprings and not one of the girls was in a position to turn them down; each felt grimier than the next.

After stripping clean of her traveling clothes, Courtney sunk deep within the torchlit waters, smiling to herself as the heat soothed her aching muscles. A full day of traveling nearly did her in and she was only too happy when the town came into view.

Sango sunk down in the water near Kagome, observing her two new traveling companions silently. The redhead held a far away glance, obviously thinking on some important topic, while Courtney was simply relishing in the piping hot spring water. _How typical_, thought the exterminator. _The one who's born hardship reflects while the other lives only for the moment. Each could learn something from the other. _Little did Sango know that Courtney, too, had born hardship.

Kagome, hoping to lighten the almost dreary mood, asked cheerfully, "How did you two enjoy your first day traveling with us?"

Restraining herself from shouting terrible words, Tack smiled graciously and said, "Very much."

Beside her, Courtney practiced no restraint whatsoever when she answered, "I'm sore all over. Couldn't we, like, ride horses or something?"

The two original members of the Inu-tachi exchanged glances, wondering exactly how to answer this question, while Tack massaged her temples soothingly with her wrinkling hands. This was not the most delightful piece of conversation. Before the redhead could launch into a chastising speech, Sango cleared up any questions the blonde might have.

"If you know of any place where we could find six horses, I wouldn't mind one myself," said the exterminator almost tightly.

Courtney clamped her mouth tightly shut, looking away from the girl's piercing gaze. Certainly, no one besides Tack ever spoke to her in that irritated tone. The majority of Dameon Highschool reverred her as some sort of beautiful goddess, so why didn't these people?

Though the circumstances were quite funny in Tack's eyes, she restrained her laughter and focused on one nagging thought in the back of her mind. She'd been unable to shake it for quite sometime, a thought no doubt triggered by her time spent with the cheerleading captain, and it continually blinked on and off like a sign. Why did Courtney and her friends pick on Tack? Sure, they were rude to everyone in the school, but why so predominantly Tack Harley? She didn't make _that _much trouble for anyone and didn't even start fights unless on good ground. Obviously, the cheerleaders had a much better reason for hating her.

Before any ground breaking discoveries could be made, Sango rose from the springs and turned, making her way towards her clothing on the banks. Both Courtney and Tack saw the large, hideous scar on the exterminator's back, taking up its entire center, claws like a mutated spider spreading along her lean muscles. The blonde made to say something about it, but Tack kicked her swiftly underwater, leaving the girl to cry out in pain.

"Ow, bitch!" screamed Courtney, her eyes narrowed in anger.

Tack widened innocent eyes, asking dazedly, "What?"

"You kicked me!" the cheerleader accused righteously.

"It was an accident."

"No it was not a fricking accident!" shouted Courtney, standing by this point, glaring down at the redhead.

Tack rose to meet the challenge, her demeanor cool. "I said it was an accident. Get over it."

With that, Tack Harley rose resolutely from the hot springs and followed Sango's example, dressing swiftly in her green gi as Kagome and Courtney watched. Courtney stared open mouthed and her rival's back, unable to find the words to renew the conflict, and Kagome attempted conversation. "Well, I guess it really was an accident."

Letting out a scream of frustration, Courtney stood up with a vicious splash and waded fiercely through the waters, practically ripping on her red gi before stalking inside. After witnessing this exchange, Kagome let out a heavy sigh; this journey was surely going to be longer than anticipated.

**There we go, another chapter, sorry for the delay. I have summer school for five hours a day, then I scurry off to tap class and its all a blur after I work out in the evening and stumble home, saying something resembling, "SMITHERSNOTKAREENYMAPOOFAH." Just like that, too. ;)**

**Oh, something cool I found by accident. In Wordpad, if you hit "e," release it, then hit "x" and "alt" silmuntaneously, it makes a little musical note character. I thought it was cool...then again, I am a loser. A really stunningly good looking loser. Hah. **

**:safety pin: **


	5. Awakening the Wolf

**Thanks to all my reviewers, Lupa Wolfe, Emerald Jewels, Kairivoosh, Taka Sheoku**

**Here we go!**

The next day, Inuyasha led the group along a northward path, one often traveled by commuting merchants. After hours of Courtney's endless whining, Tack's clenching fists and Inuyasha's popping veins, the seven travelers took a much needed rest in the shadows of an oak's branches.

As Courtney proclaimed once again, "It's so hot I could die!" Shippou leaned over towards Miroku and said, "She's been saying that all morning! Why is she so irritating?"

The monk mused over this for a moment, stroking his nonexistent beard in thought, before answering, "I'm not quite sure Shippou. Her attitude does not, however, prevent her from being quite attractive."

The small fox demon allowed himself an exasperated sigh before stretching out on the ground, closing his eyes to take in a moment's rest. As he drank in the sun's muted warmth through the canopy of leaves, he listened to the group's companionable silence. Courtney finally shut her mouth and lay quietly on her stomach, observing a daisy with mild interest as Tack unsheathed her sword.

It was quite the mysterious thing, she thought, carved with dragons and battle scenes along its magnificent silver length. Inuyasha must have seen her staring at the blade for he commented, "That's a nice sword."

Shrugging, Tack replied, "Thanks. I really don't know how to use it, the old woman just gave it to me. I wouldn't know the difference between it and a big kitchen knife."

Raising his eyebrows, Inuyasha asked incredulously, "You mean you don't know anything about weilding it? That's weird, I wonder why the hag gave it to you in the first place."

Rolling over on her back, Tack held it above her to block the sun, observing the rays escaping over the metal's sides. "Me too."

Kagome, who'd been listening to the conversation, interjected, "Why don't you show her how to use it, Inuyasha." When met with a blank stare, she continued. "You've gotten pretty good with the Tetsuiga, maybe you could show Tack how to use her sword."

The dog demon and redheaded girl exchanged glances, shrugging silmultaneously, before Inuyasha said, "Guess it couldn't hurt."

He stood, along with Tack, and unsheathed the Tetsuiga, resting it casually on his shoulder as he walked a few paces down the length of the grassy road side. Turning to face Tack, he called, "Come at me with it!"

The redhead glanced down at the sword in her hands, looking unsurely back at Kagome. The girl offered her a reassuring smile, motioning for her to go on and try. With her hopes and dreams as incentives, Tack took off at a quick run and wondered exactly how to use the blade. Perhaps it she just swung it at Inuyasha, he'd parry it and throw a blow back at her. Deciding upon this course of action, she came within range of her mock opponent and gripped the hilt tightly, throwing all her weight into the swing.

Blade met blade as Inuyasha blocked the thrust easily with the Tetsuiga. Tack found herself virtually overpowered by the strong hanyou and grunted, twisting out of the way as only an athlete could. The dog demon was almost surprised, having expected anything but this motion, and nearly stumbled forward. He caught himself at the last minute and smirked, raising his mighty sword in ready position once more. The two met blades again, the clang echoing through the forest, and Tack raised her eyebrows at her own ability to parry.

The engraved sword held its own mightily against the much larger fang before Tack finally felt her strength waning and she narrowed her eyes, feverishly channeling strength she could only hope was there. With one mighty push, she threw off the Tetsuiga and used her sword like a fire poker, feeling as though she were attempting to spear a rather large hotdog. Inuyasha leapt backwards and used the ground as a push board, rocketing towards Tack with a great speed.

The girl saw the hanyou coming towards her and blinked, suddenly feeling an odd instinct in her gut. The sensation was almost indescribable, but Tack though of it as a great terror rising up within her, screaming with all its might for her to move. She suddenly felt as though part of her mind were pushed slightly aside and replaced by a vicious, clever, snarling beast. Tremors of shock ran through her body and she clapped a hand to her mouth where a pressure grew on her top row of teeth. Another pulsing began at her lower back and nearly caused her to kneel from the pain. It wasn't intense but magnificently dulled, like that inner headache that never goes away.

Tack cried out in surprise, her body having virtually taken on a mind of its own, and she suddenly felt her legs surge with power, moving the rest of her body roughly to the side. Inuyasha flew past her with his speed still carrying him and Tack was left for a mere moment to deal with what could only be called a transformation. Just as the overwhelming pressure seemed to reach its fullest and the redhead didn't think she could take much more, it stopped instantly, subsiding like a forgotten wind. All was deadly silent as her friends watched her warily, overcome by her distinct change in appearance, and Inuyasha seemed alight with surprised disgust.

Turning slowly around, Tack began looking herself frantically over as though searching for abnormalities and, by the lord's grace, did she find some. Where her chewed stubs of nails had once been there lay fiersome, sharpened claws a perfect match for her mouth's new inhabitants. The girl stuck her fingers frantically between her lips, searching for the source of the pain, when her skin was pricked by something sharp; she gasped. Where her normal, human canine teeth had once been, there were terrifying, sharpened fangs. Lastly, Tack reached a hand to touch where her back met her rear end and let out a shriek. She was the proud new owner of a long, bushy tail, trapped within the confines of her practice gi. The tail of a wolf.

Not unlike Courtney's outburst the previous day, Tack felt a mighty scream errupting in her throat and escaping her lips, piercing, bone chilling, blood curdling. Birds fled from the trees as the girl sank to her knees, fright overcoming her eyes. The group rushed over to her, Courtney halting some six freet from the girl, and Kagome began to speak frantically to the redhead.

"Tack? Tack, calm down, it's going to be alright," she said, attempting a soothing tone.

Tack just shook her head, oblivious to all else but her failing sanity. "What's happening to me! I...I...holy shit..."

At this point, when Miroku and Sango began discussing the possible causes in hushed tones, Inuyasha narrowed his eyes with a certain finality. "Now you don't smell human at all."

Time stood still for a moment, the grass refusing to wave, the wind declining to blow, before Tack felt all conciousness leaving her. Her eyes rolled back in her head as the stress of transforming finally caught up with her and, just before she lost touch with reality, Kaede's words echoed through her mind. _Power is a wild thing, sometimes not to be harnessed. Control your abilities, but do not tempt your power. It will consume you if provoked._

After Tack fainted, Kirara graciously transformed and, under Sango's watchful eye, carried the girl dubiously on her back. Courtney walked alongside the giant cat, studying her rival with a strangely uncritical eye. Kagome watched the blonde curiously, wondering what she could be thinking. After all Kagome'd seen of her, she was certain the cheerleader would flee in terror after witnessing Tack's transformation. Surprisingly enough, she did the opposite and insisted on protecting her from falling.

Meanwhile, the others discussed the afternoon's occurance on their way to the nearest town.

"I'm sure this has something to do with what Kaede said to Tack, about awakening the wolf. But what does it all mean? She couldn't just become a wolf instanteously, this had to have been in her somewhere," Miroku reasoned.

Sango agreed. "I've never heard of anyone simply becoming a demon."

Inuyasha entered the conversation, leaving his thoughts momentarily. "It happened right when I was charging her. I wonder if it has something to do with that."

There was a brief silence, during which Kagome glanced back at Courtney. "Courtney," she began, "does Tack get in fights at school?"

Eyes never leaving Tack, Courtney responded, "All the time. She always, like, wins by a lot. Everyone's kind of afraid of her."

The others were silent for a moment, as though all thinking how lonely Tack must be. Truly, carving your way out by force left you totally alone, having scared the world away for good; Inuyasha could testify to this. Sango glanced up, observing the setting sun with a concerned glint in her eye. Turning to the others, she said, "We won't reach the next town by nightfall. We'll have to settle down for the night soon."

With a nod, Inuyasha began sniffing around for a virtually untouched area; perhaps there, the group would be safe from the many demons. When a clearing came into view, the hanyou motioned his friends to settle down and make camp, leaping away into the forest to do a quick perimeter safety check of the area. After Kirara deposited the still unconcious Tack on the ground, she padded softly towards Miroku's newly assembled camp fire and quickly set the sticks aflame. Kagome laid out her bedroll and, with Sango's help, moved Tack onto it.

Courtney stared silently into the fire, the dancing flamed reflecting in her placid blue eyes. After studying her for a moment, Kagome asked, "Courtney? Is something wrong?"

The blonde broke her deep thoughts momentarily, looking up at the concerned girl with a weak smile. "No...thank you."

Though Kagome was surprised to get such a courteous answer in response, she merely nodded with a smile of her own, returning to unpacking food from her traveler's bag. Inuyasha returned shortly after and the group at around the campfire, talking about everything and nothing for a good hour. Courtney rarely took part in the conversation, but when she did it was obvious: Courtney had changed in those two days.

At one point during the night, the blonde turned slightly around when she heard a groan. Tack turned a bit, her eyes fluttering open, and she sat up with a tentative hand on her head. Still groggy from her long sleep, she asked hoarsely, "What..."

"We were in the middle of our fight when you just kinda started..." Inuyasha began, not quite sure how to finish his explanation.

Kagome smiled, interjecting, "I think you awoke the wolf like Lady Kaede said you should because you...changed."

The redhead looked down, once more taking in her claws, tail, and the sharpness in her mouth. She held up her hand in front of the moon, watching the light hit her new nails. "Interesting," she breathed, obviously pleased.

Standing up slowly, Tack caught a passing burst of wind in her nostrils, savoring the many aromas before turning amazedly back to her friends. "I can smell everything! Like animals, food from the next town, water, everything!" The girl laughed with happiness, spinning around with her arms outstretched. The others laughed with the redhead, happy to see her up and moving once more.

"Try running," Inuyasha called from across the camp fire.

Tack looked over, puzzled for a moment, before she nodded and took a few loping steps. Unlike when she normally ran, the girl began sprinting and still felt as though she could go faster. Tapping into whatever new power she'd gained, Tack took a deep breath and rocketed forward, passing the trees at an alarming speed. She was but a blur of color whirling through the forest, her eyes the size of dinner plates, and she arrived back at the campsite swiftly, thin chest heaving with the exhiliration.

"Whoah!" she exclaimed, excited beyond anything she'd ever felt. Turning to Kagome and Courtney, forgetting her rivalry with the blonde momentarily, she asked breathlessly, "You know what I'm going to do when I get home?"

The two exchanged glances, shaking their heads. Tack grinned wildly. "Join the track team."

Both girls burst out laughing at the redhead's insinuation, ignoring the questioning stares from their friends. Tack took a seat in the circle, wary of her new chestnut colored tail, and half-smiled in Courtney's direction. "I see someone's in a good mood."

Though the blonde would normally retort with a rude comeback, she shrugged a bit, hugging her knees to her chest. "I guess I finally realized complaining and crying and wishing I was home wouldn't do anything. So, I guess I'll stop being a bitch now." Everyone could hear the joking tone in her last sentence and smiled, Inuyasha snorting slightly.

Nodding a bit, Tack said, "Nice to know. It's only taken you, what, a few years?"

Holding up her hands graciously, the blonde replied, "I deserved that."

"Damn right you did," said Tack, a bit more of a snarl in her voice than intended. Softening her tone, she continued, "But I'm willing to give you a second chance. I've...kind of been a bitch too. Which is half the reason I have no friends. The other half is those rumors you spread, but I could really care less; I don't think I want to be friends with any of the idiots at our school."

"Heh, I don't even like my 'friends.' They're more like cheerleading buddies, I wouldn't spend time with them if I didn't have to," Courtney conceeded.

Tack grinned. "Yeah, right, you love being popular. I can tell by the way you act all innocent and flirty with all the football players."

"Whatever," came Courtney's dismissive reply. "I used to be a loser, but then I got my braces off and lost a bunch of weight. They all treated me like shit before that and only picked me up later because they thought I was pretty. And soon enough I realized how stupid they were and it wasn't hard to surpass them. That's why I'm popular. And its not that great."

By this time, the others had turned away, respecting the privacy they knew the two girls needed, and were involved in a rather length discussion about Naraku. Tack snorted a bit, crossing her arms. "Not that great? I'm sure it would solve every problem I currently have. Friends, safety..." the redhead trailed off.

Courtney smiled a bit, filling in smugly, "A boyfriend?"

In response, Tack only snarled fiercely, a growling sound which rose from deep within her diaphram. It resembled a terrifying ripple of thunder, yet Courtney only lowered her eyelids a bit. "I can tell you're lonely. Even if people at school tried to get close to you, you wouldn't let them." Again, Tack said nothing, only staring deep into the fire. Courtney continued softly, "You think I'm stupid, but I'm not as dumb as you, and probably everyone else, think I am. I have my own morals and trains of thought just like the rest of the world."

The other girl lowered her eyebrows fiercely, biting back, "Morals? I'm sure they're a lot different than your average person's. For instance, I'm sure 'pick one potentially threatening girl at your school, make up rumors about her father's death and ruin her life' isn't okay in a normal person's book. If you're done proving yourself to me, I'm going to sleep. I may have awakened the wolf, but you're far from being a priestess. Take it from someone who can smell the impurity in you."

With that, the redhead laid pointedly backwards, extending her limbs until she was fully stretched out across the earth. Courtney sighed quietly, hugging her knees to her chest as she gazed placidly into the fire. Though she'd come to some conclusions about herself, she was still quite confused; she too had her demons and they were slowly catching up with her. When it came time to become the priestess she rightfully was, no doubt she would have to answer for a few things and stand up for reckoning. And the mere thought of seeing her sins was frightening. Courtney was fully aware of her "impurity."

The rest of the group exchanged glances, Inuyasha grunting a bit as he resettled himself against the tree. "I got first watch."

Everyone nodded, secretly relieved to finally sleep, and they too fell captive to slumber, Sango and Shippo cuddled against Kirara while Kagome settled in her sleeping bag. Courtney found herself virtually alone as her fellow travelers dissolved into sleep and she felt a sort of sadness capture her heart. She'd done Tack so much physical and emotional damage over the years, it would be wrong to ask forgiveness. The cheerleading captain would just have to wait until the punk was ready for some kind of friendship. And that would be quite a while.

Though this thoughts troubled her mind, Courtney felt her eyes closing almost as soon as she hit the soft earth. Tomorrow was another day, after all.

Far across the darkened lands, water cascaded down a mountain side in magnificent splendor, concealing the gaping mouth of a rank smelling cave. Within the murky expanses of the opening, voices could be heard yipping and barking angrily at one another. Yet to the trained ear, one could make out an argument between clan members, possibly caught in a meeting. A wolf tribe meeting.

All with their different colored furs, the wolves pointed accusing fingers and raised their already heated voices violently. Be they human or animal in appearance, every participator had their own opinions and grievances to potray, each as different as the next. Standing wearily before his tribe, Kouga of the wolf demons growled irritatedly to himself. He'd been trying to explain the recent disturbance in the West when, suddenly, one of the elders felt the need to open his snout and disprove the leader's theory. Not long after, the wolved erupted in a fierce argument, taking sides and yanking scruffs.

Narrowing his clear blue eyes dangerously, Kouga let out a growling roar of sorts which reverberated intensely around the cave, bringing all commotion to a quick stand still. The scuffling wolves turned with great speed towards their leader, halting all motion and forgetting their current qualms. No one was ready to face Kouga for a battle at this late hour.

The many human candles which lit the cave cast eerie shadows on Kouga's clean cut face as he barred sharp fangs at his kinsmen, summoning the silence which now captured the tribe. "As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted..." Several glares were shot in the direction of Hideki, the trouble making elder, who quailed under the many eyes. Kouga continued, satisfied with Hideki's punishment.

"The air's felt differently ever since this afternoon and I know it wasn't just me who felt it. There was a disturbance in the West and it had a strange smell, one I'm sure a lot of you know." Some of the elders nodded their heads wisely, validating their strong leader's assumption. "It smelled like birth, death and transformation all together and I think I know what that scent belongs to. The Kaiku Stone."

The room erupted into shouts once more, some of disagreement and some of amazement. Kouga yelled angrily, "I'm not done yet!"

When the wolved reluctantly quieted, Kouga crossed his strong arms atop his breast plate and growled. "Just let me frickin' finish. The Kaiku stone was created by the elder's 15 years ago, but I don't know why. This is where you come in, Ikasu," the wolf demon concluded, looking pointedly at an aging wolf in the front row.

Nodding his snow white head earnestly, the elder rose with great difficulty to his feet, requiring the assistance of two younger wolves to resettle at Kouga's side. Ikasu blinked his eyes tiredly, yet addressed the cave with pride in his hoarse voice. "The Kaiku Stone was created to aid Kyoujaku, a close friend of our current great leader. Kyoujaku mated with a female but, soon after they were expecting a child, the two were mortally wounded in a battle with the cat demons. Though their tribe members were able to transport them back to their den alive, the leader knew Kyoujaku and his mate would die. As was his friend's last request, the leader collaborated with a powerful human priestess and created what we call the Kaiku Stone. This stone allows one's demon powers to remain dormant until the stone recognizes they are absolutely necessary. The priestess was able to deliver Kyoujaku's child before his mate died from her wounds. Kyoujaku's last dying request was that his pup, a female, be brought up away from her own kind, lest she suffer the fate of her mother and father, dying at a young age in battle. The priestess housed the Kaiku Stone within the pup's body, concealing her demon heritage and powers until her rightful time. The pup was then sent far away to grow up as a human, unknowing of the wolf within her."

A heavy silence followed this explanation before Hideki cocked his grey face to the side in an almost haughty manner. "Why did Kyoujaku not give the pup to the leader? She should grow up as a wolf, live with her own kind. Its disgraceful, being human until some stone sees fit."

Several agreements filled the air, but Ikasu elder shook his head. "A father is solely responsible for the life of its pup and Kyoujaku wanted his daughter to grow up peacefully, away from war and destruction. During that time, the war with the cat demon tribe was expected to last for many, many years, possibly throughout our leader's lifetime. But it was our leader's great ferocity in battle which so handily won us that war."

The wolves grinned from ear to ear, fanged smiles reflecting the pride they held in their great leader; never had the wolf demon tribe been led by a wolf so deserving of his title. Hakkaku, one of Kouga's close friends, asked, "Where did the priestess send the pup? And how the hell did she do it?"

Ikasu replied, "It is said that she meditated for 3 days and nights, without food or water, and contacted the spirit of the long dead priestess Midoriko, the creator of the Shikon jewel. She begged Midoriko to take the child to a place where she could grow unaffected by the Kaiku stone's powers and the priestess agreed. Midoriko coupled her own reincarnation with the wolf pup and, together, the two children were reborn in another time."

The wolves made muffled sounds of understanding, though Ginta, another of Kouga's friends, furrowed his brow in confusion.

"So, Midoriko was dead but the priestess talked with her anyway? And how did she use her power if she was dead?"

As though this question were assinine, Ikasu snorted and responded, "A priestess with powers such as Midoriko's could perform spiritual miracles long after death. In turn, the living priestess contacted Midoriko through deep meditation, as I said before."

While Ginta ignored the old wolf's scathing glare, Hakkaku was still not satisifed. "Old one, you made it sound as though the priestess didn't like the idea of the Kaiku stone."

At this question, Ikasu sighed. "She did not. The priestess could not understand why the pup had to return to its demon life at all and argued that changing its lifestyle so far into its life could have damaging effects. But the great leader was adamant and threatened to take the priestess's village as hunting ground if she did not comply. The priestess still held a grudge, even while making arrangements for the pup. I suspect she sent the pup to a different time because she reckoned, so far from the shikon jewel, it would never make its transformation from human to wolf."

Kouga furrowed his brow, seeming a bit frustrated by this involved story. "So far from the shikon jewel? What does that have to do with anything?"

Nodding his head gravely, Ikasu replied, "Yes. The Kaiku stone was created based on the principle of _Arami-tama, _or, the bravery in a heart. The sacred jewel shard can be good or evil, depending on the balance of the weilder's spirit and, as such, the jewel is comprised of the four parts of soul: valor, harmony, miracles and love. Using her spiritual powers, the priestess extracted part of the jewel's essence, part of _Arami-tama, _and used it along with many incantations and spells to create the stone. The priestess most likely believed that, far from the Shikon jewel, the Kaiku stone would not function."

There were several murmers of wonder and speculation, which soon increased in volume. Kouga shouted irritably, "Shut up!"

Once again, the cave was silent as the wolved observed their leader with a mixture of respect and fear. Rolling his eyes and wondering why days like this existed, Kouga addressed Ikasu purposefully. "So why is the Kaiku stone back in this time if Midoriko sent the pup to another time?"

"There could only be one way," Ikasu said. "The pup has returned and the stone has awakened her power."

Several wolved gasped and frowned, some grinning at the prospect of excitement. Surely, this new development with the Kaiku stone would bring some worthwhile action. Kouga, taking everything in stride, asked impatiently, "Great, but what should we do?"

Chatter dissolved instantly as all eyes turned to Ikasu, whose old mind churned sharply inside his greying skull. Looking from the wolves to his leader, the elder replied calmly, "Bring her back to us and let her claim her rightful place in the tribe. As her father was the great leader's second in command, she would be second only to you, Kouga, next to the great leader of course."

Obviously at ease with the idea of retaining his control, Kouga nodded resolutely and addressed the cave with a commanding air. "I leave tomorrow to seek the great leader. I will consult him about important matters and then find Kyoujaku's daughter. Ginta and Hakkaku, your comin' with me." The two wolves in question nodded curtly in consent. "The rest of you, keep out of trouble while I'm gone."

The wolves yipped in both agreement and approval, leaving the cave as a pack to seek food. Kouga turned to Ikasu, who remained sitting stiffly beside him, as the echoes of laughing wolves bounced off the walls. Above the commotion of his retreating kinsmen, Kouga said, "There's still one thing I don't get. How did the pup get back to this time?"

Rising sorely on his old limbs, Ikasu limped towards the cave mouth, saying simply, "We will learn in time," before leaving Kouga to his own devices. The wolf leader groaned, following his pack into the lush green countryside. Looking pleadily towards the starry heavens, Kouga wondered quietly aloud, "Why can't you ever make things easy for me?"

And with this, the leader shook his head and took off on strong legs, a mere blur amongst the trees as he searched for his dinner.

Inuyasha awoke from a light sleep early the next morning, disturbed by the sound of someone's body hitting the ground. Glancing swiftly to the side, the hanyou let his tense muscles relax; it was only Tack.

The girl was obviously at ease with her new demon powers and appeared to be experimenting, taking a fierce running start before leaping high into the air. Inuyasha noticed that, every time she landed, Tack's legs were splayed and resulted in her splattering on the ground. The hanyou rose to his feet, snapping out cricks in his neck before walking leisurely towards his new traveling companion. As he neared, Tack came to another painful end on the earth floor and groaned in irritation before leaping to her feet, ready to try again.

"Hey," Inuyasha said, alerting the girls to his presence.

Tack didn't even cast him a glance as she responded, "Hey, heard you coming a mile away," limbering up for her next high jump.

Before she could otherwise flatten herself, Inuyasha said mildly, "Try to keep your legs straight and bend your knees to take away some of the power from your landing. Or you'll just keep smacking the ground."

Sending a glance in the hanyou's direction, Tack gave a curt nod and proceeded to jump once more. The wind pounded at her skin as she looked out briefly above the tree tops, fangs glittering through her grin, when she felt the decent. A sudden feeling of unctrollable disaster claimed her for a mere moment before her bravery took hold once more and she kept her legs in the correct position, allowing her knees to bend naturally under the weight of gravity. Clouds of dust sprange up from where her feet landed squarely in the ground and Tack smiled a bit, composing herself before turning to Inuyasha.

"Thanks."

Shrugging noncomitally, Inuyasha replied boredly, "No problem."

There was a brief silence, during which the only sound consisted of Shippou's muffled snores, before Inuyasha asked, "So what's up with you and the blonde?"

Tack's face clouded with a contorted look of disgust and she replied shortly, "I think she's a bitch and she'll never change."

Raising his eyebrows in mild surprise, Inuyasha countered, "You looked pretty cozy last night."

This only provoked a barking laugh from Tack. "I gritted my teeth, trust me. She's made my life far too miserable up until now for me to forgive her quite that easily. She says she's turned over a new leaf, but I won't soon forget what she's done to me. I want to watch her suffer."

The hanyou was almost startled by the malice in Tack's voice, though he suddenly pictured Tack walking brokenly down rows of jeering people, bending her head beneath the weight of the cruelties. It looked so much like his own childhood, Inuyasha could suddenly identify with the hatred she felt.

"Whatever," Inuyasha snorted, quickly changing the subject. "I still have somethin' to say. When you transformed yesterday, I smelled somethin' weird. And I wanna know what it is."

Tack cocked her head curiously, asking, "What'd it smell like?"

"I don't know," replied Inuyasha, his eyes narrowed suspiciously. "But I didn't like it. You're hiding something."

Holding up her hands, eyes completely unknowing, Tack replied, "No, I'm really not."

Just from the honest confusion in Tack's eyes, Inuyasha could tell she spoke the truth. Something inside her lay dormant until yesterday when it awoke; he didn't know why it felt that way, but it did. Speaking in rudimentary terms, there was some weird shit going on. Antagonizing someone who misunderstood their crimes was pointless, so the hanyou backed down, unsatisfied.

"Yeah, whatever," he said quietly, turning away from the wolf demon.

A quick glance towards the campsite showed Miroku stomping out the embers of the campfire, watching Sango lustfully as she strapped the boomerang bone to her back. Kagome gathered her things, settling them in her bicycle's weary basket, before calling Courtney softly into wakefulness. The whole camp, it seemed was ready to depart for another day of traveling. Looking begrudgingly Tack's way, Inuyasha said gruffly, "Come on."

And with that, the two companions wandered over to join their group before departing on another difficult day's journey.

**Done with another chapter. Glorious!**

**:safety pin:**


	6. Two Wolves Clash

**Unfortunately, Fanfiction has decided that my stars and tildes are not worthy; they refuse to print them anymore. In light of this, I've switched to question marks and exclamation points. I checked over the document, but I might have missed one or two breaking points; please understand.**

**Thanks again to my reviewers! We've reached the 10 mark!**

**:Safety pin:**

The Inuyasha party traveled for another two weeks, virtually untouched by demons. Kagome often commented on the lack of action, surprised by the lull in demonic presence, while Inuyasha grew more and more suspicious. Why would the demons suddenly stop appearing? Before, they'd come in droves, attracted by the Shikon jewel's power. Their sudden and conspicuous absence was almost frightening.

Relations between Courtney and Tack changed considerably and they grew to be almost grudging friends. They still poked fun at one another, spitting a cruel word or two when the time seemed appropriate, but they were still leagues away from their poor beginning. Courtney's less "bitchy" attitude became quite popular within the group and she was soon just another of the traveling companions, if not a bit less capable one. Tack, after working out a few kinks, was able to effectively use her powers and began honing her skills under Inuyasha's watchful eye. Besides the obvious lack in demon activity, everything was perfectly normal.

One pleasant morning, the Inuyasha party was traveling languidly along a deserted forest path, moving steadily towards the village of Takino. On the recommendation of a passing farmer, they sought a suspiciously powerful soldier who'd returned from war acting strange; Inuyasha suspected the foul use of a Shikon jewel shard.

Tack shielded her eyes with one clawed hand, observing the brilliant blue sky through the tree tops. One thing she would miss if she left for home was the unexplicable abundance of ozone. She so thought the word "if" because she'd been thinking lately on the subject of death. Not in a morbid way, mind you, but a purely philosophical one. What if she, per chance, died during some kind of encounter in this world? Her mother, who she'd speculated was already scouring Texas for her, would be left without a trace of her daughter, only to live a life alone with Jeff, Tack's little brother. More importantly, Tack would die without ever truly exploring the ways of the wolf. And wouldn't that be disappointing?

Courtney, though she appeared merely contemplative, was searching her inner soul for any signs of spiritual power. She'd made it a habit to excercise her "inner eye," wondering if the old hag in the village was daft when she suggested some kind of bogus destiny as a priestess. If she was right, however, Courtney couldn't really understand her logic. Not a single thing about her was spiritual; she didn't even go to church. What in the world would she become a priestess for?

As a light breeze ruffled the tree tops, Inuyasha furrowed his brow, holding his nose quickly aloft. Tack followed his lead, smelling a plethera of aromas enter her sensetive nostrils, only to make her eyes water. "Ugh," she moaned, "that smells terrible. What the hell is that?"

By this time, the others had stopped and were watching their demon friends with some interest. Shippo, not one to be left out, took in the scent as well, replying shakily, "That's a demon!"

The Tetsuiga was released from its sheath and Tack removed her own sword dutifully, lowering her eyebrows dangerously. She was prepared for her first ever demon battle.

At first, nothing happened, and the group stood motionless in the roadway, scouring the trees for any sign of life. A sudden rush of wind and rustle of leaves yanked their attention towards the rightmost trees where a shadowed group sillhouettes approached. When the first few stepped into the light, Courtney gasped, taking a tentative step backwards. Fur-covered faces, lithely muscled limbs, roving eyes of a hideous yellow color, cat demons began filing through the forest in abundance.

Each was of a different breed, their fur a myriad of colors, but every single cat demon held the same dislike for Inuyasha and his group. After an encounter not too long ago, leaving their leaders dead and their great king reaplced in the grave, the cat demons were anything but fans.

"Stay behind me, Courtney," Miroku whispered urgently.

The blonde girl nodded with an audible gulp, positioning herself behind the stone faced monk. Sango removed the boomerang bone slowly from her back, glaring intensely towards the growing enemy. Kagome withdrew her bow and arrow, notching one as a precaution while Kirara transformed; it seemed the group was ready for battle.

The front most cat demon, white fur matted with days of weary travel, licked her lips hungrily at the sign of Courtney. "Ah, tender human flesh," came its raspy voice.

Courtney cowered behind Miroku, who gritted his teeth purposefully. "What do you want?"

Pointing one clawed finger at the pretty blonde, the cat demon smiled a fanged smile. "Her."

This, needless to say, was quite the surprise. Out of the entire Inuyasha party, Courtney seemed the least desirable in this day and age. She couldn't fight, she wasn't brave, her home making skills were most definitely sub par, and her attitude was generally poor. What could the cat demons want her for? This seemed to be the question on everyone's mind as the friends tensed, weapons suddenly gripped tighter.

"Why?" asked Inuyasha in a dangerously low voice.

As though offended by the question, the cat demon scoffed, a hacking sound resemblant of vomiting. "We could feel her power calling us from the mountains, half breed," it hissed, advancing ever more towards the terrified blonde.

Letting out a yell, Inuyasha raised the Tetsuiga mightily above his head. "Well, ya ain't gettin' her!"

Without so much as a warning call, the sword came swooping down, missing the lithe cat leader yet catching some subbordinates behind her. The battle began in earnest, the group taking one cat demon a piece as fur flew in every which direction. Above the melee, Inuyasha was able to yell, "Kagome, take Courtney and Kirara and get out of here!"

Kagome nodded curtly, grabbing Courtney by the arm and dragging her towards Kirara, who fought off a few wayward cat demons before hefting the girls on her back. Sango's cat pushed strongly off the ground, pumping her legs to gain altitude above the fighting as Courtney helplessly watched her friends battling below.

Inuyasha seemed to have no problem with the cat demons while Miroku fought them off valliantly with his staff. Sango's boomerang bone took out dozens per swing, yet no depletion in numbers seemed visible even then. "There's too many of them!" Miroku called, whacking another cat boldly on the head.

Tack, as soon as the first cat charged her, felt a rush of adrenaline invade her veins. The lingering doubt disappeared, followed swiftly by reserve and then mercy. The redheads claws glittered as she held them aloft, swiping down cruelly upon each enemy head. Not a single cat was spared as they attacked her in droves, clawing at whatever they too could get. The wolf demon was a blur of color as she moved, too fast for their blazing yellow eyes to comprehend. After fighting with Inuyasha for only two weeks, she'd surpassed the best of them with ease. She soon resheathed her sword, seeing no reason why she couldn't fight this out the demon way.

Eventually, the four friends worked their way through the innumerable foes towards each other, forming a four square as they fought off opponents in every direction. Above the clanging of swords and the hissing of cats, Sango called, "Everyone okay?"

There were three affirmative shouts from her friends and the demon slayer nodded in satisfaction before using her boomerang bone to bludgeon another cat. Tack had just finished off what she estimated to be her tenth cat demon, relishing in the spray of its escaping blood, when she heard a curious sound from behind. It roared and wooshed, the same rush as a wind storm, and the others seemed to hear it as well, all scuffling pausing momentarily.

Inuyasha narrowed his eyebrows in violent distaste, observing the undulating trees with great malice. "Not that mangy wolf," he muttered angrily.

Miroku let out a sigh, obviously able to decode his friends fierce mumbling, and said to no one in particular, "Here we go again."

Soon, Tack could make out the dim swirling of winds, brilliant whites and greys gathered together to create a rather small tornado. She gasped, a native Texan with an innate sense of reverance towards the natural phenomenons, and prepared to run before she heard Inuyasha actually addressing the twister. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Furrowing her brow, the redhead turned to observe the scene in confusion. The tornado, in all its whirling splendor, slowed down swiftly and dissolved all together, leaving a rather stately demon in its place. Standing tall, blue eyes shining through the murky forest shadows, this man cut a handsome figure. His dark hair fanned out behind him, drawn together near the top of his head, and he observed Inuyasha with a fanged smirk. Everything about him, the way his muscles relaxed, the way his skin burned a light copper, screamed aloud his confidence.

On the outside, Tack seemed genuinely unimpressed. On the inside, however, her heart beat wildly within her chest. She'd never seen such a dashing character, let alone spoken to one. He observed Inuyasha levelly, returning his cold demeanor. "Whatever I want," came his reply.

It was then, when the curious man turned to the side, that Tack noticed something strange about him; just like her, he sported a dark, shining tail. A familiar smell became apparent to the redhead, whose eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. This man was not merely a man, but a demon. A wolf demon.

He seemed to notice her at the same time, for his eyes shifted back towards the group, ignoring the masses of cat demons who were watching the exchange with interest. The wolf demon leaped over scores of cat rabble, landing lightly before Inuyasha. Looking behind the hanyou curiously, he asked, "And who are you?"

The dog demon barred his teeth, shifting so that he once more stood between Tack and Kouga. "None of your business, Kouga."

Kouga raised his eyebrows in mild amusement. "I think it is my business, dog breath."

Leaping clear over the hanyou, the wolf demon spun about to face the mysterious girl, taking in her appearance with one scrutinizing glance. He furrowed his brow curiously, observing her claws and tail before meeting eyes with her. Piercing green met icy blue as the two wolf demons stared silently at one another, both trying to win a silent battle of wordless power. When at last Kouga felt his suspicions were confirmed, he took a bold step forward, coming within mere inches of Tack. "I'm Kouga, leader of the wolf demon tribe."

Trying to keep her cool, Tack half hooded her eyes. "Good for you," she said quietly.

Kouga was rather surprised; even Kagome hadn't spoken to him in this manner. The girl's insubordinance should have been offensive, but the wolf leader found it rather intriguing. Tack grew increasingly uncomfortable under the wolf demon's stare and barred her teeth, growling fiercely. "Back off."

Instead of heeding the girl's word, Kouga said confidently, "You're the one I want I can smell it. You're coming with me."

With nary so much as a question or consent, Kouga leaned boldly forward and grabbed Tack around the waist, clutching her tightly as he bounded off into the forest. After overcoming her intense shock, Tack gave an angry, rolling bark and began punching mercilessly at her captor. Kouga winced, thinking to himself _she's strong for someone who just came about their powers._

Inuyasha was about to charge after the retreating pair when the cat demons came out of their stupor and let out fierce hissing screams, flinging themselves towards the now diminshed threesome. Unable to leave Sango and Miroku on their own, the hanyou growled angrily and began trying to destroy as many demons as possible. Unfortunately, he found himself unable to get away for even the slightest moment; Tack would just have to wait.

Meanwhile, Kouga was trying his best to hold on to the redhead as she struggled. Every scratch she wrought seemed more painful than the next and, finally fed up with her rebellious behavior, Kouga landed and let her push away from him. Her green eyes bored holes in his skull as she glared venemously at him, shouting, "What the hell do you want with me?"

Wiping some blood from his cheek, Kouga replied evenly, "It's a long story. But I'd be taking you to meet my tribe, you would be with your own kind."

"I'm perfectly happy where I am, thank you!" came Tack's outraged reply.

Kouga felt his all too familiar temper rising up in his throat, threatening to unleash on this poor, unsuspecting girl. "How can you be, surrounded by humans and half demons! Don't you want to meet other wolves?"

At this question, Tack hesitated momentarily. Surely, she did want to meet other wolves, but not without properly bidding farewell to her friends and making the necessary preparations. She couldn't just abandoned Inuyasha and the others. Still, it would be nice to meet others of her kind...

Aware of her deliberation, Kouga asked in a more restrained tone, "Can you just live like this? Becoming a wolf demon and not knowing anything about it?"

Shaking her head to clear it of any improper thoughts, Tack clapped her hands firmly to her ears. "Shut up!"

She leapt forwards with her claws outstretched, preparing to do away with this pitiful upstart of a demon. He reflected her swipe easily, far more experienced in battle. As he blocked more sloppy attempts at murder, he continually ground at her concious. "The leader wants to see you, you would be high up in the clan, everything you've ever dreamed of. Power, mates for the choosing, subordinates to do whatever you asked..."

Desperately kicking out in Kouga's direction, Tack caught the wolf demon leader square across the chin. "I don't want any of that shit! Power, servants, I don't want it! And how the hell do you know about me becoming a wolf demon anyway!"

Rubbing ruefully at his jaw, Kouga replied, "I could smell it, the whole tribe could. And what else could you want?"

Once more, Tack found herself lost for an answer. What would she say? Friends? Happiness? Her father back to life? None of it was possible, with Tack the way she was, and she'd just as soon give up on the whole notion of comfort. She would never be comfortable in this wretched life as long as people like Naraku and those punk bastards who killed her father existed. But wouldn't Kouga sense some kind of weakness if she revealed this? And besides, there was a deep burning desire within her, wanting to understand what was happening to her, why all these changes were occuring. Maybe if she just went with Kouga for a little while...

Lowering her claws grudgingly, Tack asked sourly, "So you want me to come back to your den with you?"

Kouga sensed a sort of defeat in her voice and smirked. "Yep. And elder Ikasu will explain everything to you."

Glancing briefly down at her clawed hands, Tack remembered a day when she'd seen only skin, stubby finger nails and a few fading scars. Now she saw talons, merciless weapons which so longed to destroy. She wasn't a peacenik by any means, but back in the battle, she'd wanted nothing but the death of others. And it'd felt so wonderfully wrong, she couldn't help but want more. Nothing about this was okay in Tack's book.

Meeting eyes with the wolf tribe leader once more, Tack said softly, "I'll go."

Kouga grinned triumphantly, giving a curt nod to the redhead. Before she could walk in their previously traveled direction, Kouga stopped her, a suddenly serious expression on her face. "But I want you to swear. You have to spend two weeks at the den."

At this, Tack felt all her doubt rekindling. "What? Two fucking weeks!" she asked in disbelief.

"Two weeks or nothing at all. And don't even think about following me later; I'm still too fast for you," Kouga replied coldly.

Wrestling with her demons, Tack finally gave into temptation and nodded. "I swear."

Kouga lifted his right hand, using his left du-claw to rip a thin cut along his palm. Blood flowed from it as he nodded in Tack's direction. Looking bravely down at her own hands, Tack sliced a line along her hand in turn, lifting it to grasp Kouga's. The oath had been sworn in blood and there was no going back on her word. Tack would take her sentence as she'd requested it.

Without looking back, the redhead nodded to Kouga and he began a swift run towards the north, Tack right at his heels. It seemed things had just taken an interesting turn for everyone.

About a half mile from the wolf den, Tack began to catch rancid wiffs of decaying carcasses and wet animal fur. Kouga glanced over at her, eyebrows raised. "What's the matter with you?"

Not bothering to hide her disgust, Tack replied venemously, "It smells like shit."

Kouga only faced front in response, replying shortly, "Get over it."

As Tack took in the upcoming landscape of waterfalls and lush forest banks, Kouga raised his head to the wind and howled eerily. Responses tore from the wind in kind, issuing from the surrounding forests and some from what appeared to be the waterfall. Tack watched in fascination as wolves of every color bounded from the trees an leapt through the falling waters, obviously housed in some kind of hidden cave. She and Kouga came to a halt, waiting for their kinsmen to assemble as the howls continued.

When finally the noise subsided, Kouga addressed the crowd. "Hey, this is Kyoujaku's daughter."

Everyone gave yips and growls of approval while Tack looked swiftly to the side. "Excuse me?"

Glancing back at her, Kouga said noncomitally, "I said your Kyoujaku's daughter. I don't know your name."

Anger threatened to pour out from Tack's throat, though she kept a tight reign on her emotions momentarliy. She did, however, allow her green eyes to burn with fury. What nonsense this wolf spoke! "First of all, I don't know who the hell Kyoujaku is. Second of all, you could have fucking asked me my name!"

Kouga spun about, ignoring his tribe's amused stares, as he answered hotly back, "Kyoujaku is your father and I don't give a damn what your name is."

With this, Tack leaned in closely, eyes mere slits and fists clenched at her sides. "And what's that supposed to mean!"

The leader of the wolf demon tribe crossed his arms haughtily over his chest, replying snidely, "You're just some worthless human girl masquerading as a demon. You don't act like a wolf at all. If the leader hadn't asked me to get you, I would've left you to die with that mutt Inuyasha."

Without so much as a moment's hesitation, Tack lashed out with her claws and caught the thoroughly surprised Kouga right across the cheek. Blood dripped down from three horizontal cuts as he stared aghast at the girl, wondering where she'd gotten such speed. Her eyes burned with anger as blood dripped from her claws, in rythym with her heavy breathing. "How dare you," came her vehement whisper.

Again she made to strike him, but Kouga was prepared; he leapt out of the way in the nick of time, narrowly evading her ruthless nails. The surrounding tribe members watched, mouths agape to the ground, as this newcomer challenged their powerful leader. Did she not understand the meaning of the jewel shards? With two shards in his legs, Kouga was virtually the fastest creature on earth. There was absolutely no competition between them.

As Tack came at him a third time, Kouga let loose a powerful kick with his strong legs, sending the girl flying through the air. Tack was stunned, pained, and almost scared into submission. She hadn't even seen the blow coming, owing to the amazing speed in the leader's legs, and now felt enormous pain across her chest. It was like a dull thud, like she'd done something terrible to herself, and pain racked her body. If she weren't so proud, she would've stayed down.

_I'll just get up and th..._ her thoughts were interrupted as she felt the impact of a terribly large solid object at her back, knocking the breath from her weak chest in one fell woosh. The surrounding wolf demons let out low moans, wondering how painful that must truly be to hit a tree at 45 miles an hour.

A second after Tack felt the impact, she fell slowly towards the ground where she lay motionless for a moment. Kouga exchanged glances with Ginta and Hakkaku, who had removed themselves from the group to stand with their friend. The wolf leader entertained terrible thoughts of facing the elder, being reprimanded severely for killing Kyoujaku's daughter. He might even be kicked out of the tribe.

A grunt sounded from the tree's base, easing Kouga's nerves as he watched the girl get slowly to her feet. The crowd was virtually stunned; how was she even awake after a hit like that? But Tack held the most dangerous power of them all: overactive adrenaline. Wiping a trickle of blood from her lip, the redhead narrowed her eyes dangerously and concealed a painful cough into her sword hand. Staring coldly at Kouga, the girl said lowly, "You'll pay for that, you bastard."

If the tribe members weren't stunned before, they sure were now. No one, and that meant absolutely no one, spoke to Kouga in such a tone. Even Kagome hadn't dare called him such a vile name and never had she picked a physical fight with him. Was this girl absolutely mad? Or brilliant? Or both?

Observing the girl with a regal eye, Kouga said with a smirk, "Like hell I'll pay for it. You can't even stand."

What Tack did next surprised everyone: she literally pulled herself together and charged Kouga with all her speed.

Kouga's immedeate reaction was to dodge and he did so to the right, only to find Tack's fist waiting to meet his face when he arrived there. With one solid smack, the wolf demon leader found himself flying backwards towards the other wolves, cheek stinging and no doubt beginning to bruise. Many would later describe their leader's face as one of deep thought, maybe even a sort of impressed frown. He didn't seem angry and only a bit surprised, owing to Tack's obvious determination in battle.

When Kouga hit the ground, Tack managed a sort of wild smirk. "That'll...teach ya...ugh..."

Wavering a bit on her feet, the redhead fell limp to the ground, a motionless heap of blood and bruises. Kouga stood after only a moment, placing one hand to his cheek and pulling it back, revealing a bit of blood. His eyes widened slightly, no doubt reacting to the injury he'd sustained from a mere demon girl, and he observed his fallen opponent curoiusly. The wolves were silent until Ginta stepped up, tentative before his recently battling leader.

"Uh...Kouga?"

Without turning to meet his friend's eyes, Kouga said, "Hakkaku, Kyoko, Reyna and Kenji, take her to the den and do what you want with her. I'm going to talk to Ikasu. If you know what's good for you, stay away from the elder's elm."

With that, Kouga turned on his heels and became a mere blur on the wind, racing towards the towering elm in search of Ikasu. The wolves stared dumbly after him until Hakkaku shrugged, turning to the others. "You heard him."

Kenji, a wolf with a full set of teeth and wild black hair, scooped Tack softly into his arms, following Hakkaku with a nod of his head. Kyoko and Reyna, female twins, exchanged glances as they observed Kouga's odd retreat. Did something about this girl strike a chord with him? Knowing their hides were to pay should they disobey the leader's orders, the dark haired wolf girl's nodded resolutely and followed after their comrades towards the den.

**To end, a quote from Harry Potter, the sixth book of which I finished on Saturday. **

**"Did you think I would leave him because he wasn't beautiful anymore? I'm beautiful enough for the both of us I should think!" -Flour Delacour, reacting to Bill's change**

**:Safety pin:**


	7. Life in the Den

**SORRY! I didn't realize how long it had been since I updated; I'm trying to balance mediaminer and which is making things very complicated. Here is number 6, not exactly on time, but present and accounted for. Thanks to my reviewers, love you all, many huggles.**

"You struck Kyoujaku's daughter?"

Kouga crossed his arms haughtily, refusing to meet Ikasu's eyes. "She hit me first!" came his childish reply.

The elder sighed deeply, cooling its belly in a large elm's refreshing shade. It was said that the regal tree was created by the spirits of every fallen wolf elder, the reason behind its forever growing nature. Every year it grew, despite its lengthening age, and never died in storm nor plague. The wolves reverred it as the forest's gift to them and treasured the tree, laying under its shade reverently or thanking it for miracles, should they occur.

At the current time, Kouga thought of everything but the old tree's history. He remained focused on his previous engagement with Tack, a fight during which the girl was carried off in a heap and Kouga received a large bruise on his cheek. In retrospect, he mused, it had been quite a long time since he'd received an injury by anyone other than Inuyasha or Kagura. Surprisingly enough, he'd broken his clean streak with this girl. Imagine that.

Ikasu looked up plantively at Kouga. "She seems to have struck a sound blow."

Kouga's clawed hand instinctively reached up to touch his wounded cheek and he snarled. "I let her hit me so the others wouldn't think she was a weakling. She should thank me."

The elder beared all through this magnificent lie, turning the subject somewhat. "Kouga, she is a powerful demon, or so I suspect. Do not antagonize her."

This insinuation set Kouga aflame with anger for the umpteenth time that day. "Powerful? That pathetic excuse for a wolf? She should've stayed in the human world where she belonged!" Kouga shouted, his eyes burning as he glared down at the elder.

Ikasu waited patiently for his young protege to gain control and, when silence resumed, the white haired wolf asked quietly, "Are you ready to listen to an old wolf's instructions?"

Truthfully, having to sleep through anyone's instructions was pain enough for Kouga, but he saw the stern quality in Ikasu's gaze. Kouga plopped down on the ground with a sigh, beginning to pick at grass as he waited for the elder to begin his tale. Ikasu cleared his throat and began.

"The girl's name is Rai, meaning 'defeat.' Her father named her so because she was born of defeat, when her mother and father were on their death beds after battle. If she is anything like her forefathers, Rai has great power she's yet to unleash. You believe her to be weak? Tell me, Kouga, when you were two weeks of age, how advanced were your skills?"

Knowing this question was rhetorical, Kouga said nothing, only narrowing his eyes slightly in response. Satisfied, Ikasu continued. "And the great leader has given you insplicit instructions, as I hear, to train this girl. Am I correct?"

Kouga thought back to his time spent in the mountains, speaking constantly with the great elder and seeking his wisdom. The old wolf's face echoed through his mind as he remembered those stern words. _"Kouga, you will find Kyoujaku's daughter and teach her to survive in this world. In two full moon's time, I wish to see her and observe her progress. Is that clear?"_

It was clear enough for Kouga and he agreed wholeheartedly, not of a position to refuse the great leader's instructions. But now that he'd met his soon to be charge, the tribe leader was having some second thoughts. If that girl let him within a twenty foot radius of her, he would be pleased. As of the current time, the two wolves were enemies.

Ikasu interrupted Kouga's train of thought abruptly. "I believe I am correct. You will train her well and comply with the great leader's wishes, shall you not?"

Of course, Kouga was of no mind to say no and merely nodded, begrudging to say the least. He would just have to throw some moves at the little snot and go on with his life, searching for Naraku to claim revenge.

"Yeah I will, damn it. Lay off ya old..." Kouga began.

"No need to take your anger out on me, young leader. Though I would suggest taking a run to clear your head; when you go to formally meet Rai, you wouldn't want to worsen your already terrible relationship."

With a snort, Kouga stood swiftly to his feet and disappeared into the forest, a swirling circle of winds forming the tornado around him. As trees shook in the leader's wake, Ikasu sighed and laid his tired head on the grass. If that young pup of a leader ever became a man, the old wolf would eat his own fangs.

Tack slowly became aware of her limbs and the terrible weight which came with being grounded on earth. Her dreams, mere wisps of a memory, faded like disappating mist. Blurry figures clouded her vision and she blinked a few times, letting her eyes adjust to the stark contrast of candle light in relative darkness. The sounds of water falling into a pool below carressed her ears, though the calming air did little for her body. Never in her short life had Tack felt pain so unbearable; she imagined this is what it felt to actually get the shit kicked out of you.

Sure, the redhead remembered her smackdown with that arrogant wolf Kouga, her terrible defeat, her disgraceful loss of conciousness. She did however manage to land a solid punch; this was enough to satisfy her momentarily. The blurs of color slowly morphed into recognizable figures, two female wolf demons and two males, all hovering around her doing odd jobs in what appeared to be a cave. When Tack accidentally shifted to look to her right, she hit a sensetive spot and felt fiery pain enflame her back.

"God damn," she hissed bitterly.

One of the females glanced down at Tack, her face shining with a delicate smile. "You're awake, good. Try not to move too much, now, Kouga really did a number on you."

This wasn't what Tack wanted to hear and this became obvious when she narrowed her eyes in dislike. This girl's spastically happy tone reminded her of someone quite familiar. One Courtney de la Shanz.

"Like hell he did," Tack retorted violently, making a strong motion to sit up.

It was then that the other female placed one firm hand on Tack's chest, pushing her back to the ground. This second one was a direct replica of the first, their hair, eyes, everything. Obviously, this was the uppity female's twin.

"Don't be so stubborn," the second female admonished forcefully, a hardened look in her dark red eyes.

Struck by this girl's attitude, Tack obeyed reluctantly and glanced boredly up at the ceiling. "What did he do to me," she muttered, astonished by this incredible pain. Was she so bad a fighter?

As though the first female could read Tack's thoughts, she said, "You aren't bad for someone who became a wolf two weeks ago, Kouga's just an amazing fighter. He broke three of your ribs and the tree scraped up your back. Luckily, you didn't fracture your spine... we couldn't have fixed that."

Though the girl's tone was light, her words were serious and Tack shrugged off the thought of a motionless life, laying paralyzed on a bed unable to return home. What a terribly happy idea this was.

"I'm Kyoko by the way and this is my twin sister Reyna. We're in Kouga's elite hunting guard," said the bubbly female with a smile.

Reyna only gave a slight nod of her head, obviously not fond of the redhead, and returned to sharpening a dagger with a blunt rock. One of the males with a startling mohawk of blonde hair interrupted the girls' conversation. "So you're Kyoujaku's daughter?"

Meeting the girl's eyes violently, Tack spat, "I don't know who the fuck that is. I'm the daughter of Skip Harley and you people better get that through your heads."

The two males, who were now half heartedly guarding the entrance to the cave, exchanged glances at the female's ferocity; none of the women in their tribe had an attitude like that, not even Reyna. Speaking of Reyna, the colder twin rose to her feet and observed Tack with her frightening glare. "You don't have to be so..._human_ about it." She said the word "human" as though it were a terrible disease on her tongue. "We only know what we've been told."

Keeping her cool for as many moments as she could muster, Tack asked levelly, "And what _have _you been told?"

Reyna opened her mouth to speak but Kenji gave a warning snarl. "That's not your place, Reyna, shut your nose."

The wolf Kenji was a rather powerful looking creature, standing tall and strong. His wild black hair was swept back in a terribly unkempt ponytail, framing angry blue eyes and what Tack considered a handsome face. Reyna barred her teeth in a fiersome display, obviously not a friend of the male's. "Don't speak as if you know so much, Kenji."

"It's Kouga's words and Kouga's words alone that she's to hear. Don't get in the way of that," Kenji responded to her challenge.

Walking slowly towards him, Reyna lowered her eyebrows in a dangerous dance of hatred. "I'm glad you know the pecking order, Kenji, since your father seemed not to. Bascon the Betrayer, wasn't he? Leading his tribe in mutiny against the great leader? Whereafter he was...killed?"

Before any more words could be spoken, Kenji let out with a furious kick in Reyna's direction, yet the cunning female dodged. The two were soon locked in a death match, much to Kyoko's dismay. The girl's innocent crimson eyes observed her sister scuffling on the floor with Kenji, unaware of Tack rising carefully behind her. Hakkaku, who was trying to break the two fighting wolves up by this point, paid the redhead no mind as she crept out the door, silent as only wolves could be.

Outside the cave, the air was fresh and clean. Tack savored one breath before she inhaled to much and felt her ribs screaming in protest. Rather than wince or yell, she glanced down irritably as though asking them to be quiet. It was then that she caught a familiar scent on the air, one belonging to her favorite person. Or rather hated enemy.

Kouga was walking slowly towards her in the field below, his muscles tensed in dislike and frown stark across his features. After catching his eye, Tack sighed and made a quick leap from cave ledge to ground level, nearly collapsing as her feet touched the ground; her wounds still hurt a great deal, yet she showed no sign of it. She wouldn't be thought of as weak by this insolent bastard.

Standing tall, she addressed the arrogant leader with a curt nod. He responded in kind, crossing his arms belligerently as a sign of his distaste. "Yer comin' with me," he said matter-of-factly.

Tack raised her eyebrows. "Says who?"

"Me."

"And since when was I listening to you?"

To this Kouga had no reply and only narrowed his eyes dangerously. "Come or I'll actually aim to kill this time."

"I'll take you on any day, you stupid bastard!" came Tack's hot response.

Kouga growled fiercely and, in one fell swoop, threw the girl bodily over his shoulder and took off at a quick run towards the elder's tree. To her credit, Tack fought him valliantly all the way there, pounding at his back and scraping with her claws. She managed to scratch him in a few places, despite her current weakness, yet never succeeded in breaking his hold. The fighting pair arrived at the elder's tree in a short, helter-skelter sprint, thanks to Kouga's desire to be rid of the wench.

As they approached, the old wolf Ikasu opened one keen yellow eye. He could hear those two a mile away. When Kouga arrived with his rebellious bundle, he dropped Tack unceremoniously on the ground and addressed the elder impudently. "Here old one, tell er what she needs to know. I'm taking the elite guard out for deer."

And with that, Kouga disappeared in a whirlwind tornado of speed, disappearing quickly on the horizon. Tack attempted to get to her feet, yet her ribs yelled for her to stop. After she regained her breath and shot one dirty look in the direction from whence she'd come, the redhead met eyes with the aging wolf before her.

Silence followed as the observed him, ears to tail, and he finally spoke. "I am Ikasu, chief elder of this tribe."

Feeling suddenly at ease with this old wolf, Tack sobered and nodded respectfully. If there was one thing she respected, it was her elders. She paid Ikasu the same respect she paid Kaede. "I'm Tack Harley," she said, with a small bow of her head.

Ikasu smiled as well as a wolf could. "That is your human name, yet your demon name is something different entirely."

The redhead watched Ikasu closely, her confusion seeping through her brave facades. Seeing that she knew virtually nothing of her true life, Ikasu sighed and began the tale patiently. "I've much to tell you. It starts with a wolf named Kyoujaku..."

With one final swing of the Tetsuiga, Inuyasha destroyed the last cat demon. The bloodstrewn battleground reeked of scorched flesh and death, a product of his many attacks on the tireless cats, yet the hanyou growled angrily. The mangy wolf Kouga'd made off with Tack and, before Inuyasha could pursue, the two disappeared into the forest.

Sango was wiping her boomerang bone clear of grime, observing her hanyou friend all the while. "What ails you Inuyasha?"

Without turning to meet Kagome and Courtney, who had recently landed from their safe haven on Kirara's back, the hanyou replied, "That mangy wolf took Tack and ran off to God knows where before I could cut his stupid head off."

Courtney gasped, looking around frantically for her friend as though not believing the dog demon's words. She saw no trace of Tack, yet wished this were anything but true. Now she was all alone without contact from her own country, the closest thing to familiarity being Kagome's many worldly products. Even though Kagome was her friend, the two were from different sides of the world and had little in common. At least Courtney had known Tack before hand.

Miroku smiled brightly upon seeing Courtney's distress. "Don't worry, Lady Courtney. Kouga has a habit of making off with our women. Lucky dog..."

As soon as these words left his mouth, Sango smacked his head in one angry swing. Kagome ignored her feuding friends as she digested this new information. "Do you think it's because Tack's a wolf demon?"

Inuyasha looked warily up at the suddenly cloudy sky, smelling rain in the near future. "I don't know, but whatever the reason is, Kouga's going to pay. We better get tracking before the rain comes and washes away their scent."

The group joined the hanyou in observing the turbulent sky, shielding the waning sunlight from view; Courtney lagged a bit, ignoring her friends as they walked quickly up the trail. She sensed something ominous in her gut, a warm feeling in her body as though something terrible were going to happen. It wasn't about Tack; she felt a sort of reassuring safety when she imagined her friend's face. No, it was regarding the Northern horizon; something in that direction was distinctly ominous. And Courtney didn't like it one bit.

Ikasu observed Tack's expression as her story began to take shape. Throughout the telling of the tale, her face was confused, yet somehow impassive at the same time. One might say she eventually shut off all contact between her body and the world, lifeless gaze observing the growing clouds with little or no interest. The elder knew that Tack was no fool, that she was thinking all possibilities over in her mind. Indeed she was, but with a more frantic feeling than even Ikasu knew.

_Maybe he's lying, _she thought. _But what reason does he have to lie? They aren't trying to use me, that I'm sure of. I'm too weak of a demon yet for them to even consider me useful. They could be trying to lure Inuyasha here but, from what I gather, its merely Kouga's quarrel with Inuyasha, not the tribe's. Maybe they want Kagome and her jewel seeing powers? Or maybe even Courtney and her would-be priestess powers? What would they need me for? Maybe I'm paranoid. And maybe they're just trying to unite the tribe like civilized people...er, wolves. _Looking up, unafraid, at the turbulent storm clouds, she thought lightly, _maybe this is where I belong._

After mulling over all the possibilities, Tack finally decided to toss the dice and go where lady luck may take her. Who could say whether or not she was meant to be in this world? Only one thing was certain: Tack wasn't exactly itching to return to her era. A place where students showed open hostility towards her, badmouthed her father's death, criticized her mother for doing god knows what. She didn't want to go home where her 15 year old brother, only a year younger than herself, was transporting illegal weaponry between what she suspected were gangs. Home, where she walked into her mother's room, smelling of sickness and dulled marijuana. A house, no longer a home, where her father's unexpected death had torn the perfect family apart.

Finally blinking life back into her emerald eyes, Tack said quietly, "Thank you for telling me all this. I would say that you're lying...but I know you would get no profit from that. And I don't think you're a sadist in this for the kicks. So I guess that makes my life in the other world a half-lie. I was born of my parents, but not originally...sort of. In all actuality, I have two sets of parents. One which I never met. And my entire life depended on and still depends on something called the Kaiku stone."

Ikasu nodded, pleased to see that she understood her past and present. All that remained cloudy was her future. "I hope," the old wolf said, "that you will stay with the tribe as long as you are able. I believe, and I think you do as well, that your place is here."

His words were met wit a respectful silence, in which Tack observed the dark ground beneath the cloud's moody shadows. Standing shakily to his feet, the old wolf finally steadied himself and said kindly, "Let us return to the cave. I believe the elite guard will be back by this time with dinner."

Tack nodded stiffly, rising to her feet as well, and the pair began a slow walk to the den. At one point, Tack glanced up at the thunderous clouds and then returned her gaze to the elder. She admired him greatly, not only for his intelligence but for his determination. It looked painful for him to walk, let alone the good mile and a half to the cave. _He must be over 500 years old, _she thought to herself. _And he's still going. I can't even imagine living for 500 years...but I guess I will._

A drop of cold rain water shattered on her face and snapped Tack from her day dreaming. Something still tugged at the back of her mind and Tack felt the need to ask while they were still away from prying ears. "Ikasu?"

The old wolf looked up expectantly at the girl. She made a confused face, asking, "So my name isn't Tack anymore?"

Ikasu chuckled and returned his eyes to the path ahead. "Your name has always been Rai Kyoujaku, you've just finally come upon it. If you wish to be called by your other name, who are we to judge."

The redhead's hands came up quickly before her face and she shook her head until it became a blur. "No, no, god, that's not it. Tack never fit me anyway. It was short for Tacita, the latin word meaning 'silent.' I don't know what mom was thinking."

The old wolf couldn't help but smile at the girl; though her exterior was tough, not unlike Kouga, she had a kind heart and strong spirit. If the elder wasn't mistaken, however, she had a wicked temper. One that would give Kouga's a run for its money.

When the two wolves were about a quarter mile from the den, the sky finally gave way, sending torrents of rain down upon the countryside. Ikasu seemed not to notice, or care for that matter, while the newly named Rai spun around in magnificent circles with her mouth wide open. The old wolf observed her with amusement, thinking back to his younger days as she hummed a strange tune to go with the pounding of the rain drops.

Reyna looked out from the cave entrance, observing that foolish redhead dancing around in the rain. For some reason, the cold girl couldn't help but smile; Kyoujaku's daughter seemed so happy just to be alive and it was heartening to see. Reyna herself felt she had nothing to be happy about, living in a tribe, scrambling for food, alone in the world beside her beautiful and perfect sister. It was funny that Reyna thought Kyoko beautiful, as the two were identical, but something about her sister's smile made her prettier. Or at least Reyna thought so.

A presence approached from behind Reyna and she took a half hearted sniff at the dense cave air; Kouga. The wolf leader joined Reyna, looking out the entrance, yet with a disdainful sneer on his face. He too lingered on the foolishly dancing redhead, who was now standing stupidly with her mouth wide open, attempting to catch drops in her mouth.

"What an idiot," he growled, eyebrows lowered.

Reyna smirked in his direction, saying, "Sure, Kouga."

Raising an eyebrow at her tone, Kouga asked confusedly, "What?"

The female shrugged, reaching her hands behind her head and beginning to braid her thick black mane. "Nothing."

The leader snorted to himself as he thought of women and their complexities, finally taking a step out onto the ledge in the pouring rain. "Hey, you!"

Rai looked up as her attention was called, blinking stupidly until she recognized the figure on the ledge. Kouga rolled his eyes at her dumb look, continuing, "Yeah, you, Kyoujaku's kid. Get your ass up here if you want any meat. You too, old one."

The redhead narrowed her eyes dangerously as she leapt to the ledge, rushing to stand nose to nose with the arrogant wolf. They glared fiercely at each other, eventually barring their teeth to add to the display. When Ikasu finally stumbled up to the ledge, tottering on his old feet, the two were still locked in their silent battle, tails errect like hissing cats.

Reyna was watching the proceedings and cleared her throat loudly, finally snapping the pair from their euphoric staring game. Rai jumped to life, yelling angrily, "My name is Rai, got it? RAI. Not 'kyoujaku's kid' or 'woman' or anything stupid like that! I have a god damn name!"

Not to be outdone, Kouga responded likewise. "Yeah, well I'm leader and I'll call you whatever the hell I want, ya mangy bitch!"

"Oh yeah, ya flea-bitten bastard!"

Hakkaku ran out from the cave just in time, placing himself strategically between the two feuding wolf demons. He addressed Kouga first. "Kouga, cut it out," he said wearily, almost tentatively; he didn't want to evoke his unpredictable leader's wrath.

Kouga narrowed his ice blue eyes even more, if this was possible, but Hakkaku only regarded him with a level stare. He knew his friend was only blowing off steam, no doubt worried about presenting Rai to the great leader. After seeing that Hakkaku wouldn't back down, Kouga snorted belligerently and turned on his heels, storming into the darkest depths of the cave.

A long silence followed this outburst, yet Rai wasn't keen to keep it alive. Leaning back on her heels, she adopted a sour expression, though perhaps not on purpose. "Is he always like that?"

Reyna, who'd been observing the conversation with interest, pushed off from the wall and grinned wolfishly. "Only when he's awake."

The others present snorted, as though considering this an understatement, and Rai lowered her eyebrows. "Ikasu?"

The elder took a step forward. "Yes, Lady Rai?"

"Are you sure that I have to stay within a mile of _him_?"

Many were startled by one of two things, the first being the girl's given title. The elder had addressed her as "lady," meaning she was a high rank in the pack. Secondly, almost no one showed such forthright hatred of Kouga, especially not when he was in hearing range. Since the leader was only in his special den near the cave's entrance, he could most likely hear every word being spoken.

"Yes, Lady Rai, I am quite sure," came Ikasu's amused reply.

"Fine," she sighed irritatedly. "In any case, where's the food? Oh wait, hold on."

Lifting her nose comically to the sky, Rai inhaled deeply; her eyes lit up with joy as she charged into the cave. "Meat!" she cried, ravaged by hunger.

It was then that a new and strange sound broke the air. Reyna, ever cold and unloving, was actually laughing a throw-back-head kind of guffaw. Confused, Hakkaku exchanged glances with Ikasu and said tentatively, "Um...Reyna? Are you feeling alright?"

Shaking her head through a brilliant grin, Reyna broke into fresh peals of laughter. Poking her head outside the cave, the girl's twin Kyoko cocked her head to the side. "Oh my, who set Reyna off?"

"It was Lady Rai," Ikasu said with a small smile of his own.

Observing Hakkaku's uneasy face, Kyoko just let out a barking chortle of her own and began leading the helpless Reyna inside. "Don't worry, Hakkaku, she's just happy."

The wolf sighed, running a hand subconciously through his mohawk. Just when you thought you knew a person...

Inside the cave, the ravenous pack of wolves roamed restlessly about the central most pit of the cave, which was filled to the brim with raw meat. Deer, pig, even the odd cow had met its end by the demon tribe, now playing prey to their terrible hunger. No one dared touch the kill before Kouga took a bite, as was custom. Their leader, however, appeared to be shut up in his den, refusing to come out after his fight with Rai.

Ginta came from Kouga's private den, relating this news to the now sullen wolf tribe. Everyone gave silmultaneous groans, some growling in irritation, while others satisfied themselves with sending Rai dirty looks. Deciding to make friends early on, Rai rolled her eyes plantively. "Fine, I'll go talk to the stubborn bastard. What a baby..."

Inside the den, Rai could hear thie furtive hissing of whispers, no doubt Kouga muttering obscene things about her. She found the wolf demon prince flat on his back, staring blankly at the ceiling with his hands behind his head. He looked for all the world like a musing schoolboy and the girl observed him for a moment; there was something ruggedly handsome about him, if she could put a word to it. Not that she found him attractive; she thought these thoughts from a strongly objective point of view. Or so she liked to believe.

"Hey, ya flea-bitten bastard. We want some food, get out here," she called roughly.

Without removing his eyes from the ceiling, Kouga responded, "You can frickin' starve for all I care. I just brought you here cause the leader made me."

Narrowing her eyes patiently, Rai shot back, "I don't care about you either, but your tribe is hungry. Be a good little leader and go start their meal off with a bite, ay?"

"Whatever," Kouga snorted apathetically, turning his head pointedly away from the girl.

For Rai, this was entirely the last straw. Marching boldly towards him, she reached down and dragged Kouga bodily to his feet by use of his armor. Ignoring his stunned expression, she literally began to drag him towards the den. Growling irritatedly, the leader broke free of his surprise and, in the midst of his kinsmen, began to give the redhead a piece of his mind.

"Listen up, you mangy bitch, this is my tribe and we'll do things the way _I _say when _I _want them done. _My _rules, _my _orders, _my _mountain! Understand?" He yelled angrily, claws nearly digging into his palms.

"What makes you so bloody great! You ignore the needs of your tribesman, have no respect for your elders as I saw earlier, and, to top it all off, you dragged me away from my friends so that you could complete the 'almighty circle of wolves' or whatever the fuck your doing! Did it ever occur to you that I maybe didn't _want _to come!" Rai spat in return.

"First of all, I'm leader because I have royal blood. Secondly, I give the elders what respect they deserve. And thirdly, I don't give a shit what you want! You're just a useless, selfish, prissy little bitch of a woman!" came Kouga's booming reply.

A silence interrupted this argument, laden with prejudice and so-called hatred. Discarding her outraged screams, Rai moved on into an entirely different level of anger. Her voice was deadly calm as she began talking slow, deliberated steps towards her enemy. Green eyes locked with blue ones as the two domaneering wolves tried to silently gain the upper hand.

Eyebrows lowered dangerously, Rai said, "Alright, let's get something straight. I'm not like other girls. I don't like _pretty _things. I don't feel _sympathy. _I don't give a shit about _peace _and sure as hell don't understand _mercy. _You know what those things do? They make you _weak. _Most importantly, I don't play second fiddle to self-righteouss bastards like you. You may think I'm not angry right now, but you have **no idea. **So I suggest you take a little bite of that deer before I rip your gonads off and use them as hilt greasers. Got it?"

The silence which followed nearly shamed the previous one to pieces. No one moved, dared to breath, or even blinked an eye. Every wolf in the room was watching Kouga for his reaction, knowing their leader's helpless temper. Surely, he would explode like a volcano and order Rai to be stripped and eaten. Yet none of these gruesome orders came. Instead, the wolf leader turned to his tribe with a mocking expression.

"Who agrees with her? Who thinks I'm a piss-poor leader and wants to challenge me? No? Any of you girls out there want to join her?" When the tribe averted their eyes at his questions, Kouga returned his gaze to Rai. "In that case, you ungrateful bastards can tear apart your own fucking deer. I'm going out. Follow me and I'll throw five of you off a cliff at random."

With this, the wolf tribe leader turned swiftly on his heels and sprinted from the cave, disappearing behind the crashing wall of water.

After the world's most tangible noiselessness, Hakkaku said boldly, "You hear im. Eat up!"

The wolves exchanged glances and, without further ado, tore ravenously into the meat. Rai watched in perverted fascination as bits of skin and tendon flew about the cave, sticking to the walls and adding to what was already a horrendous odor. It was no wonder the wolf tribe lived in such filth, what with the way they ate. Sighing, the girl walked towards the huddle of wolves and tried to find an angle at which she could grab her share. After finding none, Rai lowered her eyebrows tiredly. This was getting her no where.

"Hey...Rai, was it?" came a voice from her left.

Standing at the crowd's outside was Reyna, the cold hearted twin from before. She seemed somewhat softened as she appraised Rai, arms crossed, and finally cracked a smile. "Hungry?"

Before she could deny it, Rai's stomach gave a hideous growl and a blush rose to her cheeks. "Well," began the redhead, "yeah."

Motioning the girl towards her, Reyna turned boldly to her scuffling kinsmen and gave a loud, angry bark. A few turned to listen to her, while those rash few continued tearing at the deer, and she issued scathing instructions in southern wolfen dialect. Most backed quickly away from the almost picked-clean carcass, but the elder Hideki and his loyals remained. Rai turned unsurely to Reyna, raising her eyebrows as though completely clueless. When the dark haired girl motioned her to attack the other wolves, the redhead gave her new friend the strangest look she could muster. If it were possible, wouldn't this make her relations with the tribe even worse?

When Reyna continued making obscene pummeling motions with her hands, Rai shrugged her shoulders and turned towards the offending wolves. If she wanted to gain control, she needed to make a statement. Lowering her eyebrows dangerously, the girl assumed a violent posture and charged into the melee of five wolves, biting, kicking and scratching with great ferocity. She growled and barked as she went, screaming terrible fates in a dialect she didn't know she spoke. Hideki's old eyes grew wide with fear and he jumped backwards into his kinsmen, leaving his loyals to fend for themselves. Seeing their leader had fled, they too disappeared into the surrounding crowd.

Rai glanced threateningly around the cave, as though daring anyone to take her meat, and returned to the deer carcass, pulling a strip of flesh from the hide. At first, she was reluctant to eat something so...raw. Yet, as she took a bite and chewed thoughtfully, she felt several delicious bells go off inside her stomach. Why, this meat was positively delightful!

After her virgin bite, Rai continued on with the meet and virtually tore the deer to pieces in a few seconds. Her tribesmen watched in half wonder and half fear as she destroyed what little food there was left and then stood, wiping her mouth clean of blood and gristle. Blinking stupidly, she addressed her staring kinsmen. "What?"

Having witnessed her assault on Hideki, the wolves all shook their head and shrugged their shoulders, smiling quickly to dispel any thoughts of violence. The crowds began to dissipate, leaving Reyna and a few recognizable others behind to speak with Rai. Kyoko, smiling sweetly, sidled up next to her twin, leaving the sharp toothed Kenji in her wake. Hakkaku and Ginta, also, lingered in the cave, all of them casusally leaning against the walls watching Rai lazily.

After standing in silence, surrounded by searching gazes for a while, Rai's green eyes glittered in annoyance. "Can I help you?" she asked snippishly.

Reyna held up her hands peaceably. "Easy princess, we just want to talk."

Cocking her head to the side, Rai felt a pang of familiarity; it was as though she'd become Courtney and Reyna became her, just for a moment. Yet, she shook away these thoughts and listened as Reyna began. Taking a look around at the others, the girl said, "Look, we wanted to...help you out. See, we like you, princess. You aren't afraid of Hideki, hell, you aren't even afraid of Lord Kouga. We like that. So, if ya got any questions, spit em out."

There was a brief silence, during which Rai crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. After years of false promises and humiliation, she couldn't help but be suspicious. "Yeah, I got a question." The others waited serenly. "Is Kouga always such an ass?"

The group's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates and they exchanged glances, wondering just how far this girl would go. Did she truly not understand Kouga's power? Kenji, shaking his head slowly, said, "I can't believe you talk about him like that."

Rai snorted. "He doesn't deserve my respect. A good leader wouldn't treat his followers the way Kouga does. It's like he couldn't care less; he wouldn't help you out of a tight spot, mark my words."

At this, Hakkaku pushed violently off the wall, his eyes suddenly narrowed. "Hey, Kouga's helped us out plenty of times!"

Ginta sidled up meaningfully beside his friend with a confident nod. "Yeah, he's a great leader! We oughta know, we're part of his Saibansho!"

Rai cocked an eyebrow, new to this word. "Sai...bansho?" she stuttered out.

Nodding her head placidly, Kyoko smiled a delicate smile and said, "Saibansho, meaning 'court,' is the name for a high wolf leader's group of loyals. Ginta, Hakkaku and several others are part of Kouga's Saibansho because they respect him and trust his skills. The Saibansho follow their leader regardless of circumstance and are always loyal to his cause or opinion. They stop rebellions within the tribe and fight his battles with him. It's a great honor to host a Saibansho and, perhaps, a greater honor to be in one."

Mulling over this information, Rai said slowly, "So, how high up do you have to be to have one?"

The wolves exchanged glances, as though conferring silently amongst themselves, and Kenji finally said casually, "Descendant of the top four lines. Like, the great leader, his assistants, and the two advisors." Pausing, he continued, "I guess that would make you elligible."

The redhead grinned ruefully and replied, "I might be elligible, but I screwed up my chances by being all aggressive and cold. I've done it more than once, believe me."

Shrugging menially, Reyna replied, "Sometimes that's the way to do it. Besides, you don't know exactly how the tribe perceives you. Not yet. C'mon guys, let's go."

With that, the group of wolved left the cave at a run, proceeding on for night excercise. Rai listened to the dank sounds of the cave, face emotionless but mind whirring like machinery. So she'd already made a few acquaintances within the wolf tribe, even though she was new to the surroundings. Truth be told, the whole situation was a bit intimidating and Rai felt fear for one of the first times in her life.

The girl moved outside and sat on the cliff, her legs dangling over the edge as she observed the setting sun. Her thoughts drifted back to Kouga and the way she'd set him off earlier. She knew it was disrespectful, him being the leader and what not, but she couldn't help it; he was so annoying sometimes and besides, she had to lay down a few things. Soft steps approached behind her, accentuated by the clicking of claws on stone. With a quick sniff, Rai relaxed her muscles.

"Ikasu," she greeted shortly.

The old wolf nodded his grey head wisely, laying down beside the girl. He looked silently out on the landscape before asking, "Something troubles you, Lady Rai?"

Making an irritated noise in her throat, Rai growled, "No, I've only been kidnapped and beaten into submission by the world's biggest jerk today."

The elder chuckled and laid his head down between his paws. "I see. You worry about nothing else?"

"No," came the younger demon's short reply.

After a moment, however, she mumbled something not even the older wolf's keen ears could pick up. Cocking his head to one side, he asked, "What was that?"

Through gritted teeth, the girl repeated clearly, "I asked where Kouga was."

Concealing a smile, the elder replied simply, "The Grove, two miles east of the elder's tree."

Without another word, Rai pushed herself gracefully off the ledge and hit the ground silently, taking off at a run in the proclaimed direction. Ikasu closed his eyes and smiled quietly, drifting into a peaceful sleep.

**Thanks for reading, if you got this far I assume you read. Please, a review of any kind is welcome; unless something terrible happened to you today and you want to vent, I don't prefer flames cause they don't help anyone, including you, savvy? Good. **

**:safety pin:**


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